Hiding in the Shadows
by Jenny1751
Summary: Because Namimori was THEIRS and they will protect it from trespassers, not even their own families will be forgiven so easily. Continuation of In the Shadows but everything you need to know is in the first chapter no need to read that other fic. Dark!TenthGen Rated M for Cursing and Dark themes in future chapters :3
1. What You Need To Know

**THE STORY SO FAR:**

Giotto was the heir of the Vongola famiglia and he was everything anyone would want in a boss; smart, kind, talented, graceful and a true gentleman. He was born in Japan but moved to Italy when he was five, leaving behind his mom and a little brother who he never got the chance to get to know better, where he trained to become a mafia boss and gathered his guardians who also have their own family problems. Giotto and his guardians were trained and taught the ways of the mafia by the Sky Arcobaleno Luce, who was cursed by a man they refer to as Checkerface to live in an unaging body for the rest of their now shortened lifespan while at the same time being unable to use their flames to their maximum potential. After 14 years of living in their cursed state, Checkerface appeared before the Arcobalenos in a dream, telling them that he could lift the curse, but he can only do it for one person. So he told them to participate in what he called "The Representative Battle" and the winner will have his/her curse lifted.

Luce, of course, asked Giotto and his guardians to represent her.

Giotto immediately made plans and they made their way to Namimori where the battle was going to be held. What he didn't expect was that his innocent, civilian little brother would be the representative of the most dangerous Arcobaleno, also known as the World's Greatest Hitman, Reborn. He was a lot stronger than a civilian should be and has even mastered control over his flames, to the point that he could go into Hyper Dying Will Mode. It was revealed that Tsuna was Reborn's student and the Sun Arcobaleno was teaching him to become an assassin.

Tsuna didn't always hate his older brother, there was a time when he looked up to Giotto and wished he would someday be good enough to join his brother in Italy so that they can spend more time with each other. No matter how many times people criticized him and compared him to his older brother, no matter how many times people looked at him in disappointment and no matter how many times he got hurt as a child, he still loved Giotto dearly. But that all changed after a certain incident.

Tsuna met Reborn when he was 7 and the hitman saw potential in the young boy, after a few months he took the brunet in as his apprentice and even gained a few more students along the way Tsuna views Reborn as his savior and decided to join the Representative battles not only to save him, but also to protect his home and defeat the brother he hated with every fiber of his being.

 **FAMILIES:**

Sawada:

Iemitsu (Father) - working as the head of CEDEF but is in the process of working on his early retirement so he'll be able to spend more time with his family. Lives in Italy.

Nana (Mother) - lived in Japan but moved to Italy to live with her husband and eldest son two years before.

Ieyasu (Eldest) - 22 years old, heir to Vongola. Upon arriving at Italy when he was five and taking residency at the Vongola mansion, his name was changed to Giotto.

Tsuna (Youngest) - 16 years old, currently living in Japan. He begged his parents to at least let him finish middle school before making him move to Italy with them. He's currently a freshman in Namimori High and has yet to be told to join his family in Italy.

Gokudera: (As I said before, Hayato's the only Gokudera but I don't know what Bianchi's surname is so we're going with this one. Their last name isn't Gokudera here, only Hayato his mother is, I'm only putting them all under this category for the sake of being organized.)

Father - Unimportant. A mafia boss currently residing in Italy.

Mother - Also unimportant. She's not close with her children, and most likely despises Hayato. This is probably a dwindling marriage.

Hayato's mother - deceased for 8 years. A pianist, you all know her -_-

G (Eldest) - 22 years old, searching for his little brother and secretly protective of his little sister.

Bianchi (Second) - 19 years old, went to Namimori because she caught wind that her little brother was there.

Hayato (Youngest) - 16 years old, ran away when he was 8 and earned the title 'Smoking Bomb'. Somehow ended up in Namimori.

Yamamoto:

Tsuyoshi (Father) - a retired assassin who independently maintains the peace in Namimori and updates the Vongola guardians about their families who live in Namimori.

Mother - deceased upon giving birth to her second son.

Asari (Eldest) - 23 years old, wants to be close to his brother but barely has the time.

Takeshi (Youngest) - 16 years old, started learning the way of the sword when he was in middle school.

Sasagawa:

Parents - Unimportant, they think that their son is best friends with the son of a wealthy businessman who was willing offer the boxer a job after he graduated college. They're civilians. They also originally lived in Osaka before moving to Italy.

Knuckle (Eldest) - 24 years old, likes preaching.

Ryohei (Second) - 17 years old, currently living in Japan. From what his family knows, he decided to stay in Japan and travel around the country to train to be a professional boxer, challenging worthy opponents to become stronger.

Kyoko (Youngest) - 16 years old, a civilian, she was supposed to come to Namimori with her brother because her best friend apparently moved there after she went to Italy but Hana advised her not to. She was told that there was a 'turf war' going on and it would be best to postpone her visit, so she stayed in Italy with her parents.

Spade:

Father - Went missing 7 years ago and was presumed dead. He only wrote his children in his will, his (second) wife didn't get a single cent. He's a skilled illusionist and taught his sons to be the same.

Mother - Deceased, she was a kind woman who was loved by her family greatly.

Nagi's mother - A golddigger who was furious that she wasn't included in her husband's will and took her daughter so they can live in Japan where she married another wealthy man. She went missing shortly after a fire that killed her second husband, it was after she received all her husband's money.

Daemon (Eldest) - 24 years old, wants to kill his little brother and regrets not being able to save his little sister or even be able to attend her funeral.

Mukuro (Second) - 18 years old, took up his mother's last name. He joined the Representative Battle for the sake of finding out the truth behind his sister's death. They were very close and Mukuro had even given her a phone a long time ago which was embedded with mist flames so no one else but her can see and use it.

Nagi (Youngest) - 11 years old upon death, deceased for four years. She was said to have died at June 9 on a car accident, but three days after the incident Mukuro received 3 missed calls from the phone he gave her. At September 6, there was a fire that killed her stepfather and other servants. Mukuro believes that she died during this fire instead of a car accident.

Hibari:

Father - a high ranking officer in the Japanese military, currently staying in Tokyo.

Mother - an infamous assassin, travelling all over the world.

Alaude (Eldest) - 24 years old, works at CEDEF while being a guardian.

Kyouya (Youngest) - 18 years old, known as the Demon of Namimori while at the same time protecting it from 'herbivores'.

Bovino:

Lambo (Only child) - 7 years old, was sent on a mission 2 years ago and has yet to return. He still maintains contact with the family but only to resupply weapons.

Lampo (Cousin) - 18 years old, most likely the next boss of the Bovino famiglia.

 **ARCOBALENO REPRESENTATIVE BATTLE TEAMS**

Team Luce:

Base - Sawada Household

Allies - Team Colonello

Boss - Giotto

Members

\- G

\- Asari (Defeated by Takeshi)

\- Knuckle

\- Lampo

\- Alaude

\- Daemon

Team Colonello:

Base - Sawada Househol

Allies - Team Luce

Boss - Iemitsu

Members

\- Oregano (Defeated by Unknown Member)

\- Tumeric (Defeated by Unknown Member)

\- Basil

\- Lal Mirch

Team Skull:

Base - Unknown

Boss - Cozart

Members

\- Kaoru (Defeated Squalo)

\- Rauji (Defeated by Levi)

\- Koyo

\- Shitt P (Defeated by Sniper)

\- Adelheid

\- Julie

Team Verde:

Base - Unknown

Boss - Mukuro

Members

\- Fran

\- M.M. (Defeated by G)

\- Ken

\- Chikusa (Defeated by Knuckle)

Team Viper:

Base - Unknown

Boss - Xanxus

Members

\- Bel

\- Lussuria (Defeated by Koyo)

\- Levi (Defeated by Sniper)

\- Squalo

\- Bel

Team Fon:

Base - Unknown

Boss - I pin

Members

\- Dino

Team Reborn:

Base - Unknown

Boss - Tsuna

Members

\- Hayato

\- Takeshi

\- Kyouya

\- Ryohei

\- Sniper

\- Unknown Member

* * *

 **I didn't like "In the Shadows". It was boring and it centered around the First!Gen. So I made a new story which is pretty much the continuation of that. Here's all you need to know! You don't need to read the first part, it's boring. This will center around the Tenth!Gen :D And will contain more dark themes hopefully. I also noticed that there were a few errors in my story, so here are a few things that I would like to clarify and correct. It would honestly be better if you didn't read the first part because it'll just be confusing -_-**

 **There will be insanity, blood and murder in future chapters so be warned ~ ^_^**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!**


	2. The Council

**4,216 words :3 This is a Prologue of WTF is going on in Namimori ^_^ I hope you enjoy ~ ! :3**

* * *

Namimori was safe.

This was a fact no one could argue with. It hadn't always been this way, sure Namimori had always been known to be a small, peaceful town, it wasn't really safe.

Namimori was known in the underground world as a place where retired assassins reside, so of course there were a few incidents from time to time. It was never anything big though; a few kills that were made to look like accidents or suicides, wars between yakuza or even mafiosos that the police would brush off as a skirmish between some troublemakers that happen more often than the residents were comfortable with, suspicious (dangerous) men littering dark alleys during and freely roaming the streets at night and many other incidents made it obvious that it wasn't safe in Namimori. But still, it was home to many and you soon got used to these many incidents occuring from time to time. And as long as you lay low, you won't get hurt... most of the time. There were still instances that someone got involved in a crossfire.

Almost everyone was aware of what was going on in their town, but there was some sort of unspoken rule/agreement to turn a blind eye to it. There was no point in going to the police, everyone knew how corrupt and unreliable they were. They just lived with the knowledge that there was danger in every corner and continued on with their everyday life.

Then suddenly, it all changed.

No one knows when it happened. Namimori just suddenly became safer. Yakuza and mafioso alike were less feared and more fearful about going out on the streets, the criminal rate decreased drastically and you don't have to be suspicious of every man you see. The residents of Namimori finally regained the freedom they hadn't even noticed was taken from them. You no longer had to constantly worry about what could happen if you're too careless and, needless to say, a lot of people were relieved with this sudden change. Nobody knew when it happened, but they all knew who caused it.

It was whispered among criminals, then delinquents who was heard by lackeys. First they were only known by the yakuza, then the information was spread to the retired mafiosos. And some of them had no qualms in telling ordinary civilians about it. A group has arrived in Namimori, and they seem to only target criminal organizations.

Not much was known about them other than being vigilantes and supposedly impossibly strong. Those who faced them were either never seen again or were too afraid to even remember what happened. They were merciless, brutal and meticulous. They've taken down a lot of gangs and yet no one had any idea who they were. Lackeys were taken down before they even realized they were being attacked, they always aimed for the leader who would then either go missing or become the ones who would be too afraid to speak. That was their modus operandi, and it was the only reason why they were identified as a group.

From what the bosses who survived an encounter were willing to share, the group was small but they were not to be taken lightly. You'd never know you were a target, you'd just suddenly realize you were helpless as the unconscious bodies of your subordinates surround you and your body unable to move because of the severe pain. Then, they'd talk. Apparently, they were considerate enough to try and negotiate. If you don't agree with their terms, then you'd become one of the bosses whose body will never be found.

Normally, the rise of a new group would be worrying since it would just be another group of thugs causing trouble but one thing was made clear and even confirmed; they aim to bring peace in Namimori.

Apparently, they've chosen it as their base and they would not allow anything distasteful occur in their territory. The bosses they've confronted were leaders of the most horrid groups in the area. The especially vile ones were killed along with the ones who opposed them while the ones who survived were people who agreed to become their allies after their 'negotiations'. Although, it was more like the bosses became this new group's underlings in helping to maintain the peace. The agreement was simple; do whatever you like, but if an innocent civilian is harmed then an appropriate punishment would be administered. It was simple, but it did the trick.

The group also didn't appreciate outsiders trespassing their territory, so no more assassins came which helped the retired mafiosos a lot. That isn't to say that if you were a retired assassin, living in Namimori doesn't mean you're automatically protected. If you cause enough trouble, you'll be deemed to be a nuisance and would be either punished, exiled or executed.

Everyone was grateful to them, they didn't know what kind of people they were but they were like saviors in the eyes of Namimori residents. Only their allies know what they look like, and they seemed to have been threatened to the point where nothing can make them spill. There was barely any information about them. There was, however, a name they chose to go by.

The Council for Heaven's Judgment.

A fitting name. It was sometime's shortened to Heaven's Council and often, residents just refer to them as 'The Council'. No one knows exactly when they showed up, but in less than a year that they've been known, they've taken control of the police force, hospitals, bars and various other large businesses in Namimori. They practically rule over the small town, and rumors say they hold some control in neighboring areas as well. They've grown to become a rather large organization and their first allies have even quit the life of a criminal to fully serve them. They've become loyal servants of the Council and also serve as the 'messengers'.

Although not much information was known about them, there was a few things that were leaked. They can't run an organization without spilling a few secrets after all. It became known that The Council had exactly ten official members, although some allies have mistaken them to have eleven or even twelve. These rumors were apparently caused by the a few miscommunication and confusion between members. Of course, there was no way of confirming if there really were only ten members.

Apparently, the deal was that the allies weren't allowed to reveal the Council members' true identities but there was no agreement that they wouldn't tell people what they were like. They were referred to with their ranking in The Council. Although this ranking in no way indicates their level of strength and is said to be just in random order and held no other meaning other than the purpose of providing codenames.

Rumors spread like wildfire and soon some of The Council members became a fan favorite because when some 'thugs' were 'taken cared of', people would immediately know which Council member ordered the 'execution'. The level of mercy shown purely depends on who sent the order. Of the ten Council members, 6 of them were known to be active at administering punishments and executions. These 6 were known to be especially violent and merciless compared to the other four and preferred working on a battlefield and solving Namimori's problems with violence rather than diplomatically forming alliances like how the other four chooses to do. These six were apparently so mercilessly violent and bloodthirsty that they would often turn their blades and throw blows at each other. So to avoid inner conflicts, Namimori and other small parts of neighboring cities that the Council has claimed to be their territory was divided into six so each of them has a land to rule over however they see fit with the exceptions of the occasional interference of the other four Council members.

These six who now rule over their respective 'Districts' were dubbed as Namimori's Generals. And their allies, the previous bosses/leaders who now serve as messengers and decided to serve The Council with the utmost loyalty became their subordinates and now serve as the Generals' Commanders. The four other members, on the other hand, were called "The Pillars" of the organization since they keep the peace among The Council members and also maintain order from behind the scenes. These four were not known for their strength, but for their brilliant minds. They were geniuses, considered as such when it came to hacking, invention of weapons, strategizing, manipulating, etc. Their knowledge and wisdom is what allowed The Council to always be three steps ahead of all the famiglias that went after them, and it made it all the more easier to get rid of those who opposed them.

The group, at first, seemed like a bunch of thugs who only aim to cause trouble but then they became a full-fledged (illegal, but then again Namimori's police had long since surrendered to their reign) organization with a system and soon people came to trust them.

Residents believe that they are kind people with a good cause, that they only want to help others and protect the innocent. Retired mafiosi knew better though, they have contacts, after all.

In Namimori, they were protectors of peace. Outside of Namimori however, they were an organization of assassins. What's fearsome is that even those in high power barely had any information on this new rising group. They took jobs that caught their interest while at the same time managing to maintain their anonymity. It was known, however, that only Generals took jobs outside of Namimori with the occasional exception of one Pillar.

They were definitely mysterious, not to mention unpredictable. It was clear that their priority is Namimori's safety and the order to be maintained. And yet they continue to make enemies of mafiosi by taking assassination jobs. Sometimes they take requests while other times, they just kill some random mafioso without any clear reason. They were unpredictable and their anonymity made them untouchable.

They were definitely not people you'd want to mess with.

* * *

A meeting was scheduled between all Council members, they met up at their headquarters which only they and the Commanders are aware of. At a certain room that only contained a round, metal table and ten leather, executive chairs; nine black ones and a single red one.

The topic, of course, was the Arcobaleno Representative Battle.

"Why do we all have to be here?" the First Council member asked, exasperated. "I recall being against this whole thing."

The First was often mistaken to be the leader of the group, but in truth, he just served as a tactician and was a Pillar. He was known as a genius by all means and also an amazing strategist, probably one of the best out there. He was mostly responsible of creating the system which The Council currently works with and was without a doubt an irreplaceable member, with his bright mind that often advised them and lead them to victory. However, in times of peace, he had a hard time making the others listen to him. He wasn't a General so the ones who were tended to ignore his complaints of how they manage their districts and just let him handle the diplomatic tasks that they prefer not to do.

"Shut up! You've got some nerve, complaining when you don't even stand a chance against our rookie fighters!" Second scowled. "Why is someone like you a Council member anyway?!"

Second was a General, the most short-tempered one out of the six. But despite this, he was the only one who didn't mind helping out the four non-Generals in handling the entirety of their territory. He was known to be strong and destructive while at the same time smart and cunning. His knowledge and mental capabilities were not to be taken lightly. He can deal with topnotch assassins by manipulating them from the shadows, seeing through their strategies with ease and taking them down with a quick analyzation of their capabilities. He finds their weaknesses quickly and deals with them in less than twenty-four hours after they stepped foot in The Council's territory.

"Aw, c'mon guys! We just got here, so let's try not to start a fight right off the bat?" Third chuckled, Second's short temper never failed to amuse him.

Third was also a General, and his District was known to be the most peaceful one out of all of Namimori's territories. It was said that this was caused by his merciless tendencies that were at the same time more merciful than any of the other Generals. He was a true assassin who never hesitated to go for the kill once he decided on a target. The others would probably torture, exile or threaten you and leave you permanently scarred for the rest of your life but Third goes directly to execution and he does so without hesitation. It's still debatable if this is a good or bad thing.

"This is the Boss' orders, First! If you're a true man then don't complain!" Fourth yelled out.

Fourth was a General and was someone who rarely killed, but would often leave his targets bloody with broken bones and at the brink of death. Most of them had said that they wished he would've just killed them and gotten it over with, but it seems like he has some morals. He only kills someone when his target has killed someone as well, not even attempted murder was an exception. But he was so efficient with his job that that rarely happens and he manages to stop his targets before they do anything drastic. He was also known to be able to deal with large numbers at a short amount of time and was rumored to have annihilated three famiglias in less than a month.

"Well, we're all very busy people, after all." Fifth muttered. Meanwhile, a child was happily sitting on the floor and munching on some candy beside his seat.

The current Fifth wasn't exactly The Fifth. He was only an ally at first, but the true Fifth Council member was dubbed to be too young to handle such a responsibility. So they got an ally who they deemed as strong enough to temporarily take the fifth seat until the the child was responsible and old enough to take up his rightful position. Despite being a child, the Fifth was strong enough to beat a topnotch assassin. This was mostly due to the fact that he was trained to be one from a very young age. Because of his upbringing, he had no qualms in killing and took lives as easily as he breathed air. He has also shown to have a high IQ and could probably match the genius minds of Second and First one day. But for now, he was only a child who only knows how to kill efficiently. He had a lot to learn before he became a Council member, much less a General. His young age easily made him the weakest out of all the Generals.

The temporary Fifth was one of The Council's first allies and so its members trusted him greatly. His combat skills and reputation earned him a title as a temporary Council member and also a sort-of bodyguard to the future Fifth which he felt more than honored to accept despite all his insecurities. Even though he has the "bodyguard" title, he was still no match for the child who rightfully earned the other Council members' acknowledgement. The man primarily served as someone who made sure the child stayed out of trouble while at the same time looking after his District that was relatively smaller than the others. Despite technically being a Council member, he was still considered as a subordinate and followed any order he was given.

"You can say that again, I was against this whole thing too." Sixth muttered.

Sixth was a Pillar but was as equally feared as the Generals. He had his own Commanders, although not as much as the Generals did, and dealt with things himself, disregarding the territorial system that the First arranged. He was known to be more merciful compared to the Generals, but he was a no-nonsense type of person and thugs from all districts often found themselves being punished by order of the Sixth Council member. Being a Pillar meant that you worked in the sidelines, mostly because you didn't possess the monstrous strength the Generals did and was only a member because of his brilliant mind, resourcefulness and the personality he possessed that ensured he'd get anything done, so Sixth was unable to deliver the punishments himself. He mostly worked with what they considered as 'small cases' such as kidnapping, theft, domestic abuse and other crimes that civilians commonly face. The other Council members think that dealing with these cases were a waste of time and focused on the more drastic crimes, he was the only exception. He also has the tendency to help Fourth out, so the General could take care of things before they get out of hand and he has to kill someone. Fourth was all brawn and no brain after all, he'd probably be lost without Sixth to guide him.

"I don't understand why though, we're getting a lot of good data from this. I'm especially interested in that diamond they were using, it looks really interesting." Seventh hummed.

Seventh was a Pillar. And not only was he a genius but he was also someone who has worked with various famiglias before he ended up as a Council member. He was the one with the most knowledge about the mafia world out of all of the Council members and his knowledge proved to be useful more than a few times. Despite being weak when it comes to physical confrontation, his brain got him a place as one of the top members of his previous famiglias. It's said that famiglias fought to have them in their side and offered him many things and he often did join but always ended up betraying them just because he 'got bored of working with them'.

Eighth scowled. "They're all weak, so this should be over soon. I'll be more than enough to get rid of them."

Eighth was a General, and by far the most merciless and most feared one out of all of the Generals. He has the largest territory and the most amount of Commanders. The other Generals often complain about this, but there's nothing they could do since he was by far the strongest out of all of them.

"Our goal isn't to eliminate them, Eighth. It would be in everyone's best interest if you'd cooperate for once." Ninth sighed.

Ninth was the last General. He was on par with Eighth when it came to being merciless, and he was the most mysterious out of all of them. He had the least amount of Commanders because he liked to do everything himself. Barely anything was known about him other his absolute loyalty towards the Head Council member. It was also said that once you find yourself being confronted by the Ninth Council member, it meant that he was there to guide you to hell.

Sixth scoffed. "Eighth? Cooperating? You wish."

"Oi, you better not screw this up, you bastard!" Second scowled.

"Guys! Don't fight! I just had this place renovated!" First begged.

"Oh? You guys were gonna fight? Let me join in as well!" Fourth grinned.

"Oh, me too!" Third chuckled.

"Calm down, First. It's not a big deal, we'll just take the money for repairs out of their paychecks." Seventh shrugged.

"I'd appreciate it if we'd stop wasting our money on repairs though." Ninth sighed. "We should start before things get out of hand..."

"Agreed." Second grumbled.

"Well, compared to all the other teams, I think we did pretty well." Third grinned proudly.

"Not as well as you'd planned, though." Sixth grumbled.

"But still! We're ahead!" Fourth proclaimed.

"The Battle's just begun, it's too early to tell the results. And it's not like you've eliminated a team yet, so don't get ahead of yourselves." First grumbled, crossing his arms.

"I'm gonna have to agree on that one." Seventh shrugged. "But I guess you expected to have more time, so we can't really blame you guys for doing so badly."

"That's a bit harsh." Third smiled awkwardly.

"Idiots..." Sixth scowled.

"It doesn't matter! This doesn't change anything, we'll still win!" Second said, glaring at Sixth.

"You better."

"Don't worry, we'll DEFINITELY win!" Fourth grinned. "Just believe in us, okay?"

"But still, is this okay? I mean, you only took down five people. That's not really a lot..." Fifth said, not really used to speaking during meetings.

"Sorry, it's because I got careless." Third scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, at least you took someone down." Sixth grumbled. The others, although seriously offended, decided not to retort to her underhanded comment because she did have a point. It made them feel ashamed and frustrated.

"So... What now?" Fifth asked.

"Well, I didn't want to get involved but I guess there's no choice." First sighed. "We'll have to make some major readjustments to your original plans, but it can't be helped."

"We'll figure something out." Seventh shrugged.

"But at this rate, they might cause some trouble. There's no rule about harming civilians during the representative battle and getting information about your opponents." Ninth muttered. "At this rate, they'll unveil our secrets. If word gets out, who knows what will happen to Namimori. We've already made enough enemies these past few years..."

"This is why I didn't want you idiots getting involved!" Sixth groaned. "You guys put us in a tight spot and now we've become vulnerable! Do you realize just what kind of enemies you made out there today?!"

"It can't be helped! We had no choice but to join! If we hadn't..." the child piped up but then trailed off, not liking the idea of the alternative. Sixth sighed.

"Well, what's done is done." Third shrugged. "Let's just focus on our next move."

"Right, what should we do now," Second asked, glancing at the red chair where the Head Council member sat. "Tenth?"

"That's the main problem, isn't it?" the Tenth Council member sighed. "It didn't really go as smoothly as I expected."

The Tenth was the leader of the group, the mastermind behind The Council's creation. He was the one who kept the ragtag group together, kept the Generals in line, gathered all the brilliant minds that made up their organization today and made them swear their loyalty to him with barely any effort. Despite the fact that there was barely any activity from him- he let the other Council members handle almost everything- to the point that people thought that this 'Tenth Council Member' was a myth, he was still the most feared out of all of them. There were already rumors that he was strong, his strength is said to be at par with Eighth's and there was also the fact that he was still a Pillar which meant that he had roughly the same mental capacity as the other three, if not more. But that's not what made people fear him.

It's the fact that the Generals respected him and listened to his orders. It's the fact that the other Pillars, despite being geniuses, saw him as someone worthy to work for. It's the fact that he took all these monsters and tamed them. One has to wonder what kind of monster the Tenth himself must be.

"They may be mafia, but they're not idiots. They won't needlessly involve civilians." Tenth stated. "It'd be best if we looked after our men for the time being, though."

"What for? Even if they get tortured, it's not like they'll say anything." Sixth shrugged.

"We have a shortage of manpower at the moment, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't carelessly throw away our _pawns_."

Fifth slightly tensed at the Tenth's words.

"In any case..." the Head Council member sighed. "I've already devised a plan with Reborn, all you have to do is listen."

Eighth grumbled at this while First raised an eyebrow.

"Then why are we here?" he asked, referring to himself and his fellow Pillars. "We're not representatives."

"Oh, but your services will definitely be needed." the Tenth smirked.

* * *

 **So, to summarize**

 **The Council for Heaven's Judgment hierarchy (is that the word? This is just a list in order of who's the boss and who has a higher position -_-)**

 **1\. Tenth/Head Council Member - a Pillar, the main one.**

 **2\. Pillars (First, Sixth and Seventh) - basically does the sort of like, office work, diplomatic stuff, behind-the-scenes ish. They gather intel through their resources, handle paperwork, discuss small issues that need to be taken care of and advice the Generals.**

 **3\. Generals (Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth) - they're a lower rank compared to the Pillars, but they pretty much do what they want and sometimes don't listen to the Pillars. It's clear to their subordinates however, that they are to prioritize a Pillar's orders rather than a General. If a Pillar and a General don't get along and have different opinions on how to handle a situation, they are to listen to a Pillar, as per orders of the Tenth.**

 **4\. Commanders - the previous yakuza bosses, gang leaders and top notch criminals that The Council targeted while they were still a rising group of amateurs. These were the ones who were smart enough to surrender to them so that their lives would be spared. After some time passed, they became loyal to the organization the group founded.**

 **Oh, and before ya'll say it.**

 **I suck at naming. But it sounded really cool in my head -_- Also, this whole chapter is all over the place. I'm bad at the whole system construction thing. You know, when there's an order of how things go and when you'll explain this, yeah that. So this chapter may be a bit confusing -_- I'll work on that, promise!**

 **Another thing I'm bad at is foreshadowing. I drop WAY too many hints and now ya'll probably already know who's who -_- I think it's pretty obvious... But I tried my best! QAQ**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed ~ !**

 **Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


	3. For the Boss

**4,355 words! :D**

 **I told someone that I was going to update this YESTERDAY I'm so SORRY QAQ**

 **Anyway, I think you guys would want to go back and reread the last chapter :3 I won't reveal all the characters but I'm going to reveal right now the ones the some of you were able to guess :D The other ones I can't reveal yet. Try to guess them :3**

 **First - Shoichi**

 **Second - Gokudera**

 **Third - Yamamoto**

 **Fourth - Ryohei**

 **Fifth (official) - Lambo**

 **Fifth (Temporary) - ?**

 **Sixth - ?**

 **Seventh - ?**

 **Eighth - Hibari**

 **Ninth - ?**

 **Tenth - Tsuna**

 **So go back and reread that chappie if you want to :3 Anyways, I'd like to point out that just because I used 'he' doesn't mean that that person is male. It just helps keeping the anonymity :3 Just throwing that out there.**

 **Anyways, here it is!**

* * *

Despite being a representative for the Arcobaleno Battle, life still goes on as it normally does. So Tsuna found himself getting ready for school the next morning. After what had happened, he obviously couldn't go back home where his opponents were currently at, not that he'd want to. Truth was, he was barely in that house at all. It brought way too many painful memories so the teen had practically moved out not long after his mother went to Italy. He only 'went home' once every few weeks to clean up so the house doesn't look too abandoned although he long since stopped caring.

Ever since then, he's been living with Reborn at a large condo unit along with two other people. Reborn didn't particularly mind since Tsuna was efficient in doing household chores which he couldn't bother himself to do. It's also more convenient in a way that Reborn was able to keep a closer eye on the brunet's progress. Tsuna has since then learned _never_ to let his guard down. Reborn was a demon who didn't hesitate to attempt to kill you in your sleep just to get a point across.

"I'm leaving!" Tsuna announced, grabbing his bag.

"Be on guard." was Reborn's simple reply.

"I know." he stated before closing the door to their condo and rushing to school, Hibari would be pissed if he was late. After everything that happened during the previous night, Tsuna was barely able to get some rest so needless to say, he slept in. He grumbled at the memory of Reborn smirking as he hurriedly raced back and forth around their home to get everything he needed for school, the fucking sadist.

"Tsuna!"

"Ah, good morning, Takeshi-kun. Hayato-kun."

"Did you get enough sleep, Boss?" Hayato asked worriedly, despite the fact that he had bags under his eyes.

"Well, not really. But I'm pretty sure none of us did." Tsuna chuckled.

"Will you be alright? I'll cover today's classes for you if you're too tired!"

"It's fine, Hayato-kun... And don't you look more tired than I am?" he sweatdropped.

"Tsk, there's been trouble after we finished last night... But it's nothing you should worry about, Boss! I can definitely handle it!"

"... If you're sure. But please tell me immediately if you're having trouble. I'm sure the others would gladly help."

"Understood!"

"Hahaha, Hayato's as lively as usual today, huh?"

"Shut up, baseball-freak! And I told you not to call me by my given name, didn't I?!" the teen glared, while the baseball star only laughed.

"Aw, c'mon Hayato~! We've known each other for years already!"

"Like hell I care! I've never given you permission to call me that!"

"But we're friends, aren't we?" Takeshi asked nonchalantly. "Also, shouldn't you start calling me 'Takeshi'?"

"Like hell! The only reason I tolerate you is because of the Boss!" he growled. "Don't act like we're buddies!"

Takeshi only laughed while Tsuna held back a chuckle, knowing full well that Hayato didn't really mean his words. Well, he did at the beginning of their odd little friendship, but after years of watching each other's backs they've already formed an unbreakable bond with each other whether Hayato admitted it or not. He was never the type to openly show what he really feels and always hid behind a mask of hostility and brashness, which Takeshi understood well so it was a strange sort of friendship to say the least.

"Ah... Boss, I actually have something to ask of you."

"Hm? What is it, Hayato-kun?"

"Well... since you're sure you're fine, will it be alright if I skip class for today?" Hayato asked sheepishly before bowing. "I'm sorry I won't be there to assist you today Boss! But I have some things that I need to take care of!"

Tsuna was a bit surprised at the sudden request but that immediately transformed into worry.

"I-is it the same reason why you barely got enough sleep last night? You shouldn't stress yourself out too much, Hayato-kun. You're busy enough as it is..."

"H-huh? Ah, please don't worry about me, Te- Boss!" he laughed sheepishly. "I can handle it, really! In any case, the reason is actually a bit... personal. But I promise to be back to school by tomorrow!"

Tsuna frowned. "Just tell me if you need a couple days off, I wouldn't mind really. It's always bothering me how much you overwork yourself."

"No need! I just-" Hayato's smile faltered a bit. "I just have something I need to take care of, it won't take long actually. But I thought that I might as well skip than be late, it'll give me time to take care of a few things in my District too."

"Well, Hayato's an honor student so missing a day in school won't be that big of a deal."

"Nobody asked you, baseball freak!"

"Alright." Tsuna shrugged. "It's not like you have to go to school anyway."

All things considering, Hayato was more than qualified to go to college ever since his first day of middle school but he stayed with them instead so that he could 'look after his Boss just like a good right-hand man should'. Tsuna often felt guilty since it felt like he was holding his friend back from doing better things with his life. Hayato was really just wasting his time and school, but he went anyway because he was always paranoid that someone would attack Tsuna. Which never happened mind you, Hibari would never allow such a thing happen in _his_ school.

"Thank you very much! I promise I'll make it up to you, Boss!" Hayato grinned.

"Ah- Y-you don't have to!"

"Oi, baseball freak! You better look after the Boss while I'm gone. Don't slack off! If I hear that you fell asleep in class again, I'll shove dynamites in that big mouth of yours!"

"Hahaha, I'll miss you too, Hayato."

"We're you listening?!"

"... He'll only be gone for less than a day, Takeshi-kun..."

"Aw, but I bet you'll miss him too, Tsuna." Takeshi chuckled, making the brunet blush a bit.

"W-we should hurry to school before Hibari-san gets upset."

"Ah, you're right."

"If that bastard does anything to you then please inform me, Boss! I'll teach him a lesson!"

"Please don't."

With that, they went their separate ways.

* * *

Bianchi was upset.

Well that wasn't the right, but she didn't really know the right word to describe feeling panic, relief, grief, excitement, happiness, anger, worry, desperation, confusion and determined all at the same time. Maybe it was 'overwhelmed'? She wasn't entirely sure.

But in any case, the reason for her... dilemma was her little brother. Her precious little brother whom she always swore to take good care of.

G, her older brother, had allowed her to stay in Namimori despite the potential danger that the ARB will bring but only until it actually starts. So by all means, she should've already boarded a flight back to Italy hours ago but that was not the case. When she first arrived in Namimori, she was confident that she'll immediately be able to find her little brother. No one knows him better than she does, after all. But it's become painfully obvious that she overestimated herself since she couldn't even find a single clue where Hayato was. It's been more than a week already, despite the fact that she was a professional hitman with many connections and experience when it comes to gathering information (usually for a hit), she still has no idea where he was. He's had a few lead but each and every one resulted in a dead end. It didn't deter her, unfortunately though she ran out of time.

But there was no way she could go back without Hayato, if he really was there and got hurt because she wasn't able to find him in time then she would never be able to forgive herself. So she lied to her older brother and told him that she went back to Italy and continued her search. It had been easy enough since he was too busy assisting Giotto to confirm her departure.

It was only a few hours earlier did she receive the news that her precious little Hayato was actually a participant in such a dangerous event. Although she was happy that he was alright (at least, he was in a good enough condition to fight apparently) and also excited at the thought that the chances they'll be able to meet again soon are very high, that doesn't change the fact that he's in much greater danger than she originally thought he was. After finding out about the other participants, she was confident that none of them would kill anyone unnecessarily so that was at least one thing less to worry about. There was still the fact that they, especially the Varia, didn't know the meaning of 'holding back' so he could get himself really hurt.

She couldn't believe that Reborn, her former lover and the man she still loves with all her heart, could choose Hayato as his representative and expose him to such dangers. He may not be the most ideal partner she had always thought he was.

"Go home, Bianchi."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes before turning around. She didn't think she'd be found so soon, maybe her brother tracked her phone. "G-nii, I'm not in-"

She froze once she had a good look at who had really spoken to her. That face, it was so similar to her older brother, minus the tattoo. And the person she was facing right now was much younger than G, with silver hair and wearing what she recognized as the Namimori High uniform.

It's been years since he last saw him, but she'd be damned if she couldn't even recognize her own brother.

"Hayato!" she cried out, feeling tears at the corner of her eyes and her mouth instantly forming a smile. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

Without thinking, she ran and gave him a a bone-crushing hug, Hayato only grunted but didn't push her away. Finally, she finally found him.

Hayato had grown a lot, which was to be expected. She was only taller by a few inches and his body was really lean, looks like he keeps himself in shape and in perfect condition for fights. She was glad he was alive and healthy, it made her want to cry since she missed him so much after all these years.

She treasured those few moments where she just stood there, embracing him tightly, feeling more reassured than she ever has been. She was so relieved and happy that she could cry, after all these years of worrying about him and having nightmares about the dangers in the world and what sort of harm could befall him. She couldn't remember how many times she just stood in her room, unable to sleep knowing that he was somewhere out there, probably cold or sick or worse. She knew that the mafia was a cold, cruel place and unforgiving even to children.

God knows how much regret she felt when she found out he had run away. She just couldn't help but feel that it was somehow _her_ fault. Because honestly, what child wouldn't hesitate to run away from their family? Maybe if she had looked after him more and had been more reliable, Hayato might've went to consult her first and she would've had the chance to convince him to stay. Maybe if she had showed more concern towards him and offered him help whenever he looked troubled, the thought of running away would've never crossed his mind. Maybe if she had just managed to express how much she truly cared for him then he would've at least come back after a few days.

But she didn't. And she was left with unending regret.

Being able to embrace him after all this time felt like a burden was finally lifted off her shoulders. It felt like she was finally able to breathe again after all these years of feeling like she was drowning. She finally found him.

Or rather, it was he who found her.

"You have no idea how worried I was!" she choked out, holding back her tears. "We- we looked _everywhere_ for you! I thought something bad might've happened!"

"Yeah, I heard." Hayato mumbled, recalling all the trouble he went through just to avoid the search parties they sent out. It was annoying, but he still felt a little bit glad at the thought that they at least wanted him back enough to go through the trouble of looking for him. But their efforts quickly decreased, they had probably thought that he was already dead after some time. Although Bianchi never gave up, she had always been stubborn.

"I can take care of myself now, Aneki. Things have changed." he said, finally pulling away much to Bianchi's disappointment.

"That's right... you've probably gotten a lot stronger now, right?" one of the many things she would regret in her life was not being able to be there to watch him grow up and become the man he was today. "I heard you've been causing some trouble ever since you left. I honestly don't know if I should scold you or praise you."

Hayato chuckled, he decided not to bring up all the rumors he had heard about her. She was probably just as- if not more- reckless as he was and they both knew it.

Once upon a time, Hayato had hated his sister with every fiber of his being. Who wouldn't after being forced to eat her poison cooking so often when he was a child. But after so much time has passed, he forgot all that hatred.

"Why did you come here, Bianchi?" he said after a moment of silence.

Despite her sheer happiness, Bianchi still couldn't deny the utter awkwardness that came with interacting with her brother. She may have been the closest to him, but that doesn't really mean they were particularly _close_. She just didn't mind spending her time with him even if he didn't talk with her, and he seemed to have been comfortable with her presence... probably. She barely knew anything about him, even before he ran away. She should have probably put more thought into what she was going to say to him when she did find him, but all her attention was focused on searching. So she was at lost for words, and the overwhelming emotions she was going through sure didn't help. Her eyes only widened at the words he uttered.

"I- I came looking for you of course! I heard you were in Namimori and-"

"Go home, Bianchi." he repeated what he said earlier, and those words felt like a slap to the face. Bianchi's eyes widened in shock.

"Why? Hayato, I'm not going home without you! That's why I came here in the first place!" she snapped. "Hayato, I know you're mad at us for keeping the truth from you but please believe me when I say that we were only trying to protect you!"

Hayato didn't say a word and just stared at her with unreadable eyes so she continued.

"Please. Come home. Dad may not show it often, but he really does care about you and I can tell that he misses you just as much as I do! It's the same for G-nii, so please," she grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes pleadingly. "I know asking for forgiveness is too much, so I'll just ask you to give us one more chance. To make it up to you, I promise things would be better."

Hayato didn't say anything for a while. Bianchi thought that he was just thinking about her offer but in truth, he just paused to see if she was done with her little speech and had nothing more to add.

The answer was obvious.

"I won't." he stated. "You're wasting your efforts here, so would you just go home?"

"What? Why?! Hayato, I-"

"I'm not mad anymore, but that doesn't mean I forgive you. With that said, bearing a grudge is a bit of a pain too, so I'd rather not think about that too much. I've been really busy these past few years," serving the Tenth and becoming a good right hand man. "And it was easy to forget about all that. So if you're worried that I'm mad at you, don't. I honestly don't care about that anymore."

"... what?" she asked, obviously confused. "If you're not mad then why ..?"

"I have no interest in going back to Italy, that's all there is to it. There's nothing there for me to return to, so I'd rather stay here." he shrugged. "This is my home now. If you understand that, then leave."

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"And I'm not giving you a choice."

Bianchi has no time to ponder on his words as everything went black. The last thing she remembered was staring right back at her brother's cold eyes.

* * *

"Hey, Takeshi-kun. Did your family give you any problems?" Tsuna asked while they were having lunch together. It was just the two of them since Hayato took the day off and Ryohei had to train the newbies in the Boxing club.

"Hm? Why do you ask?"

"Well... I mean, they probably didn't take the news well. You know, that you were a representative." Tsuna looked at him worriedly. "Your dad knows that you've been training with your sword often, but he thinks it's just for self-defense purposes right? What did he say?"

Takeshi couldn't help but laugh, it was just like his boss to worry about every little thing. Although none of them wanted to burden him, it did feel really nice to have someone worry about you. It was a guilty pleasure for all of them.

"Ah, well to be honest, I haven't really seen them yet."

"Eh?"

"Well, I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to go back home after pulling off something like that so I crashed at the headquarters last night."

"EH?! I-is that okay?!"

"What are you getting all worked up for, Tsuna? It's no big deal, the HQ has a lot of spare rooms, you know?"

"Yeah but... Nii-san and Hayato-kun are also staying there, aren't they?"

Takeshi blinked before bursting out in laughter. "Ah, you know us so well. That Hayato tried to kill me because he thought that 'my presence was a disturbance'. Senpai wanted to spar with me, they're always really energetic."

"W-were you guys alright...? I mean, I already know that Hayato-kun didn't get much sleep..."

"Oh, yeah. I mean, the meeting ended really late last night so it wasn't really possible to get much sleep but it's not like we're not used to that sort of thing right? But I slept really well, almost didn't want to get up earlier too."

"Well... I guess that's good to hear. But when do you plan on going home?"

"Dunno, when this whole thing blows over, I guess?"

"Oh..." Tsuna couldn't help but frown. "... sorry."

Takeshi was silent for a moment, observing his boss before ruffling his hair. "Tsuna, it's not like I mind. I'm already used to sleeping over at the HQ."

"But... you wouldn't have had to if I didn't drag you into this."

"You didn't drag me into this. C'mon, Tsuna. You know I wouldn't have done this if I didn't want to."

That wasn't a lie. But to be honest, Takeshi had already done so many things in the past that there is barely anything that he'd actually not want to do. It's not like he liked doing it, but they were just jobs that had to be done and he sure didn't mind doing it if it helped his boss.

He would do anything for Tsuna without a second thought, the same goes for the other Council members and they all knew this.

It sometimes scared the brunet how far they were willing to go just because he wished for something to be done, but then again it wasn't like he ever stopped them.

"Okay, but if you're having trouble back at the base you can stay at our place."

"That's fine and all, but wouldn't sensei get mad?"

"I'll handle him, don't worry about it."

Takeshi laughed at that, those two had always been really close. It made most of them really jealous sometimes.

"Ah, how about you, Tsuna?" he asked. "I mean, I know you've been staying at sensei's condo but that's still your house, right? Is it alright to have those guys stay there?"

Tsuna sighed. "Well, technically it's my dad's house so I don't really have any right to complain."

"We can... convince them all to leave, you know."

"Not with the Representative Battles going on. It's fine, I honestly don't care." he waved it off. "That place hasn't felt like home for a long time, anyway."

Takeshi could understand that, he felt the same with his house.

* * *

"You here to pick a fight, _brat_?" G scowled.

"I wish I could, but that would mean bringing our team down so unfortunately no." Hayato scowled back. "I'll just kick your ass in the next battle."

"Then what do you _want?"_

"Well, to be left alone sounds pretty nice. Think you bastards can do that?"

Tenth had done everything in his power to hide Hayato from his family after he had clearly expressed his dislike towards them and how much he didn't want to go back. He was touched by the effort his boss put in to hide him from them and it only strengthened his loyalty even more. But it had been much more troublesome to hide him from Bianchi when she was actively searching for him in Namimori. Luckily they were able get her offtrack by getting some of their men to give her false information and sending her on a wild goosechase. They also made sure to have some of their mist users to follow her around so she doesn't make too much progress.

But all that had given the Tenth a lot of trouble and it made Hayato really guilty, so he had to make sure it won't happen again. His boss had better things to do with his time, after all.

"Is this about Bianchi? She never listens to me, you know."

"It's fine, I've already taken care of her."

G's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Got a message across, that's what. I don't want to go back to Italy."

"I figured. And I won't force you, you look like you're doing well here, anyway." he glanced at the Namimori High uniform. "You going to school?"

"Yeah, more out of obligation than anything else." he shrugged.

"I wouldn't have minded all that much if I hadn't known that you were getting involved in some shady business."

"Look who's talking." Hayato scoffed. "You're the Storm guardian to the _Vongola_ heir."

"At least we have some people who we can trust to have our backs. You realize that Reborn is nowhere near trustworthy, right?"

"The boss trusts him, so I trust him."

"Boss?" G raised an eyebrow. "... wait, you mean Tsunayoshi? Giotto's brother? He's your boss?"

"What's it to you?"

"What exactly have you been up to? What is he a boss of?"

"That's none of your business."

G's eyes narrowed at this. "What are you guys up to?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I don't know, why did you come here?"

"Just wanted to get you assholes off my back." he grumbled.

"Well, if you handled Bianchi then you have nothing to worry about." G crossed his arms. "Hey, answer me this; why did you agree to be Reborn's representative?"

"Because the boss was, and there's no way I was gonna let him do it alone."

"That brat's being manipulated by Reborn, Hayato. I don't know what's going on but he's too naive, if you're gonna follow Tsunayoshi then you'll end up being controlled by that guy too."

"Watch your mouth!" Hayato growled. "You don't know _anything_."

"Neither do you. Do you have any idea what kind of man Reborn is?"

"Yeah, more than you." Hayato spoke through gritted teeth. "I honestly don't care what you say about me. But don't you ever insult the boss or Reborn-san."

"Or _what_?"

Hayato glared at him and he glared back. "You better watch your back on the next battle."

"Could say the same to you. You really think you brats can win this?" G snorted. "You have no idea how strong the Varia or the CEDEF are. You don't stand a chance."

"We'll see..."

* * *

 **I focused on emotional numbness and apathy on this one, or at least I think I did :/ Hope you liked it! I hope I didn't antagonize any characters too much but hell, who am I kidding? XD**

 **Reviews:**

 **linhliz -** Sorry about that, but I like Mystery even though I fail at it XD I'm glad you liked the other one! And I want to write about their backstories too but I'm thinking that that would be rushing it a bit? I don't know, what do you think?

 **mybigbook -** Could it? :O What do you think? XD I'm so glad you liked it! And I'm sorry I was wrong when I said I was going to update YESTERDAY XP

 **Lucky Guard -** I'm so glad you did! :D Hope you enjoyed the update!

 **Guest (1) -** Here ya go! ;)

 **Guest (2) -** You got most of it! Can't reveal the others though :3

 **Frwt -** I did on the A/N, can you guess the others? ;)

 **SilverShadow123 -** :O THANK YOU! :D I'm so glad you liked it! Please continue to look forward to it!

 **lovelydragonfly -** I hope it's not as confusing anymore ! :D And I hope you manage to keep that enthusiasm XD

 **akykuran -** here you go! :D hope you liked it!

 **SoulFlames -** Yeah, maybe I really should've XD So was your guesses right so far?

 **The Stargazing Shadow -** Right so far! :D Although I'm not saying anything about Ninth XP

 **kuro sora wa -** I can't tell what you're saying and I honestly just did a quick google translate but you know how reliable that can be -_- But I'm glad that you like it! (That's what google says anyway. Can't say anymore because it's making 0 sense)

 **ShadowEmperor2031 -** Don't worry, I will! :D Thanks for your support!

 **farronewp -** That's normal if you've ever been in a fandom ever XD But I'm glad you liked it!

 **Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! :D I hope for your continuous support.**

 **And so, yeah. No one else is confused about anything else right? Like, the confusion with the code names is the only pain in the ass so far right? If there's anything else then please tell me! ^_^**

 **Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


	4. Extra: The First Friend

**3,620 words**

 **I know this is supposed to be a Dark!TenthGen fanfic but I don't think I managed to put all that much darkness into this fic. I feel like I'm too hungover from Yandere simulator, you know? So yeah, it's all rainbows and sunshine right now with a dash of daddy issues but later on, it's gonna have blood and insanity. You can trust my word on that.**

 **Anyways, someone reviewed about it and I thought yeah, maybe I should just write their backstories and get that out of the way. To tell you the truth, this chapter was supposed to have Hayato, Takeshi and Ryohei's backstory. But I... I got carried away o_o" Sorry about that. I have this habit of putting in too much unnecessary details. By the time I realized it, I'm already at 2000 words and was too lazy to redo it :P So yeah...**

 **I was gonna put something dark in here, but yeah. Let's go with the rainbows and sunshine for now. Yandere mentality ;) I don't know if I already mentioned it but I think the way it's gonna go is that they're gonna be pretty normal aside from the occasional angry thoughts. But then they'll snap and that's how it's gonna go.**

 **Anyway!**

* * *

Hayato had been alone for as long as he could remember. His father didn't really care much about him since he was too busy training and teaching his eldest son who was supposed to be his heir, but during those times G had yet to become Giotto's most loyal subordinate. So a lot of people tended to pay more attention to the supposed future mafia boss and were too busy sucking up to him to even glance at Hayato. Not that the young boy had minded, whenever people looked at him it was either looks or apathy, pity or disgust. He never really understood the reason for the last one, but it wasn't long before he did.

He wasn't the only one who ended up being neglected. Their mother preferred to go out to socialize than interact with her own children, so she pretty much let them do as they please. And with their father focusing majority of his attention running the famiglia and a great part of it on G, there was not much left for either Hayato or his sister Bianchi. It was the reason why they were thought to be close. Bianchi had probably gotten lonely living in such a big mansion and having no one to talk to. So she immediately latched onto the first person who she saw was just as lonely as she was.

Hayato hadn't minded at first. But then they started making him eat her poison cooking and that's when his hatred for his sister began. Neglect and receiving scornful looks for reasons you didn't know about were one thing, but adding in being fed poisonous food and having to deal with the effects it had on his body afterwards all alone to the mix and he was absolutely miserable. But no matter how much he came to hate the people around him, they were still his family. And no matter how lonely and miserable he was in that large mansion, it was still his home and a place where he belonged. At least, that was what he believed until he found out the truth.

He ran away, because it seemed like the most logical thing to do. It wasn't like he was wanted there, he didn't belong. The only person who actually tolerated his company was Bianchi and she was practically trying to kill him everyday with how he somehow became a guinea pig for her poison cooking.

The obvious choice was to run; he had to get away from there and find a place where people would accept him, a place where things were _better_.

Easier said than done.

Nobody wanted to take in a bastard musician into their famiglia after all, so he ended up being something akin to a mercenary. Despite everything, he was actually really good at getting the job done. If only people could see that.

Still, he had just been a child who lacked experience and knowledge of the mafia. He had been sheltered up until the time he ran away, so it was understandable though it didn't really work in his favor. No matter how much of a fast-learner he was, he was bound to make a couple of mistakes. It didn't embarrass him, it was because of one of these mistakes that he managed to find his home, after all.

After a year of surviving in the streets of Italy, Hayato had gotten quite the hang of it. He spent most of his time evading all of his father's men, so it was kind of hard to find the time to actually get some food. No matter how degrading it was, Hayato had no choice but to resort to stealing. He only stole from small gangs of course, since he didn't want to steal from the innocent nor the troublesome ones that could get him in serious trouble. Unfortunately though, he ended up doing just that. The gang had looked, at first, to be just a bunch of small fry with no connections and acted tough just because they had guns and got away with a few crimes. Well, he was right about most of that except for the connections part. They were apparently working for some small no-name famiglia, but it was a famiglia nonetheless and messing with something like that was just bad news.

He just planned on sneaking into their base and stealing enough money to get him through the month, probably two if he manages it properly. But he got caught, and while he managed to knock the most of them out with dynamite, he was not prepared for their back-up. It was just his luck that their boss (a fucking _mafia_ boss) just happened to visit from the neighboring city to check up on business. Needless to say, he was pissed to see his lackeys beaten to the ground.

Hayato tried to run, but even he at the time knew it was futile. He was going to die, there was no way he could get away from them. There was at least a dozen people, not including the ones that were most likely outside, keeping watch. He was out of dynamite, extremely exhausted and out of options.

He was going to die at the young age of 9, and he couldn't help but curse the unfairness of it all. In the end, he was going to die a meaningless death. He didn't get to find a home or happiness. It was all just so unfair.

But that's life, he supposed. Or was it just his? Well, there was no way he was going to find out now. Mafioso's held no remorse for killing women or children, there was no way they were going to let him live. One of the things he learned in his year of survival was that you could get killed just for bumping into the wrong person or being in someone's line of sight while they were pissed off. And by the look in his face, their boss hadn't been in a good mood.

There were a lot of scum in the world; people who would kill one of their own, rob the innocent, torture others and a lot of other inhuman acts. Hayato could write a list of a thousand names who deserve to die and would disgust even the men from the legendary Vindice. And yet why was this happening to him? What did he do to deserve this? He never hurt the innocent, he may have stolen but only from criminals who don't deserve to be living in comfort. And he was doing it not because he wanted to, it was because he needed to. He wanted to _live_.

But it looks like fate couldn't even give him that.

After running from the armed mafiosos, Hayato found a small closet hidden underneath the staircase and hid there. It was only a matter of time before they found him, and he felt his heart beating rapidly as he listened to the loud footsteps and yells of the men outside. They were not going to let him get away, and he had no means of escaping.

Despite his current predicament, Hayato couldn't help but look back at his life before he had run away. It was an easy life, even though their parents never paid much attention to them they still always got what they wanted. He never had to worry about food, mafiosi hurting him or anything at all. (This was excluding Bianchi's little pieces of hell that she managed to put on a plate which she keeps on making him eat)

But to be honest, he didn't miss any of that. He didn't regret leaving that place even if it meant dying alone in the hands of some lowlife scum. And hell, if he was going to die anyway he might as well drag them down with him.

That was exactly what was going through his head when he turned his head to look at the contents of closet. There was a lot of useless junk but oh look at that.

Acid and some chemicals he could mix to make a bomb, he didn't even notice when a large smirk appeared in his face.

It went surprisingly well to be honest, he managed to burn off a few faces and blow up a majority of the building but it wasn't enough. If only the asshole hadn't caught him just as he was about to ignite his last improvised bomb. It was in that moment that he closed his eyes, not even bothering to struggle in the mafioso's grasp.

He was held up by the collar and had a gun pointed at his skull and he had closed his eyes in acceptance. He didn't want to die, but at the very least he had no regrets.

A gunshot was heard.

He felt his back hit cold cement and he grunted in pain but was mostly distracted by the utter confusion he felt. If he felt pain, then that meant he was still alive ... right? His eyes shot open, frantically looking around and wondering what happened. Hadn't he been shot?

The first thing he saw was the corpse of the man who was just about to kill him, he had a bullet hole on his temple. His eyes were wide with shock but he couldn't help the giddy feeling deep inside him. He was overjoyed by the fact that the man was dead, his childish mind couldn't help but perceive this as a victory. They got what was coming to them after all.

Another gunshot- several actually- snapped him out of his thoughts and he whipped his head to the direction where it came from.

A tall man clad in black held a gun and mercilessly shot every mafioso in his sight, Hayato managed to take a peek at his eyes which were shadowed under a fedora and saw the calculating black orbs held no remorse. It almost terrified him. The young boy's gaze then fell to the child beside the man, who couldn't have been any older than he was. Brown hair that was spiky and gravity-defying with wide brown, seemingly innocent eyes. Anyone would've thought of him as a civilian, but he watched as the man in the black suit slaughtered the mafiosi and he didn't even bat an eye. He watched; silent and almost apathetic expect for the fact that his eyes held a certain shine to them. Was it... curiosity?

"That's the last of them." the boy suddenly spoke when the man stopped firing. They were speaking in Japanese, and the only reason Hayato knew that was because his mother- his _real_ mother- fluently spoke the same language during their piano lessons and it had caught his interest so he decided to learn it.

"Don't lower your guard so soon, Dame-Tsuna. That sort of carelessness could get you killed one day." the man replied.

"Sorry... but if there's any left then wouldn't they have come running here when they heard the gunshots?" the boy, "Dame-Tsuna" as the man called him, asked.

"Amateurs would, on the off-chance that there's actually someone with brains in this famiglia, you should keep your guard up."

"Okay..." Dame-Tsuna nodded.

Reborn had been training Tsuna at the time and finally thought he was ready to go on an actual mission. Although it was Reborn who took it and Tsuna's job was mostly to observe. The mission was to eliminate a small famiglia, they were mostly done and now all they had to do was kill the boss and his most trusted men. They hadn't expected to catch them bullying a child. This didn't seemed to have detered Reborn however and finished off the remaining members in less than a minute.

"So, Reborn? What about him?" Tsuna asked, his gaze falling to the silver-haired boy staring at them with wide eyes.

"He's not a part of the famiglia. He's probably just some brat who got himself in trouble with the wrong people, judging by how someone was about to put a bullet in his skull less than five minutes ago."

"But we can't let him live because he's a witness, right?" Tsuna's words and his cold tone made Hayato tense.

"Nice to see that my lessons have stuck." Reborn smirked. "I'm going to scout the area, you take care of him."

He left and Tsuna pulled out a Beretta M1923 and pointed it at Hayato who only glared at him.

The brunet looked completely harmless but something about him told Hayato that he was not someone you should underestimate. His eyes never left him and it felt like he was staring right through his soul and he had an aura of someone with hidden strength. Hayato wasn't completely sure why he didn't fight back, he was just sure that even if he did, he'd just end up like every other mafioso in the room; a corpse lying in the floor on a pool of their own blood.

He was going to die anyway, so he might as well get it over with quickly instead of putting up an unnecessary fight. Hayato stared right back at those brown eyes that have now become blank and dull, losing the shine it held earlier and couldn't help but be curious. Was this boy really strong? If so, then how? Did the man in the suit- Reborn train him? What was he like? He obviously had no qualms in killing people, just like him.

Hayato wasn't sure when it started, but it was sometime after he ran away. He only knew one thing; he wanted to live and maybe someday find a place where he can belong. But in the world, it was killed or be killed. He learned this quickly and never really thought much about it. It was just the way things are, people die. If you don't want to be one of them then you better get stronger. Hayato was weak however, so there was nothing much he could do now.

"What's your name?" he suddenly asked, and Hayato blinked in confusion. It took a moment to process his words.

"H-Hayato. Gokudera, Hayato."

"So you are Japanese." Tsuna hummed, the gun not leaving it's place from the boy's forehead. Hayato looked confused so he elaborated. "It was obvious you could understand what we were saying, even though you look Italian."

He didn't say anything. Did this guy like to know who he kills? People had their quirks so he wasn't all that confused by it. He just continued to glare at the brunet and waited for him to pull the trigger.

But he didn't. Tsuna lowered the gun and put it back on its holster.

"Where's your home?"

"... I don't have one." he answered truthfully.

"Oh." Tsuna muttered. "Do you want to come with me then?"

Hayato's eyes widened. "Wh-what? Weren't you just going to kill me?!"

"Yeah but... I don't think you deserve to die, unlike these guys. And it feels like we have some things in common, so we can probably get along, I guess?" Tsuna shrugged. "... Do you have any friends?"

"... Not really."

"Me neither." Tsuna smiled at him, and it was at that moment that he earned the silver-haired boy's loyalty. "After all this is over, we're going back home. Do you want to come along?"

 _Home._

This boy was not only sparing his life, but he was offering him a home. Something he'd always wanted.

Who was he to refuse?

* * *

On the flight home, Reborn confronted him about it.

"I told you to kill him."

"You didn't mean that." Tsuna said, looking out the window. Hayato had fallen asleep beside him. They booked first class seats so they had all the privacy they needed for this conversation. "If you really wanted him dead then you would've shot him the same way you did to those other guys who tried to kill him. There was no need to have _me_ do it."

"Maybe I was just testing you to see if you had gotten soft. If you're going to be a hitman then you should have no problem with killing women or children to get the job done."

"But that isn't the case, is it?" Tsuna finally looked at him. "I know it's not."

'Hyper Intuition, huh?' Reborn inwardly smirked. "Well, I know for a fact that you didn't spare the brat just because you felt sorry for him. So what is it?"

"... He's just like me." he muttered. Reborn remained quiet, urging him to continue but that's all there really was to it. "In any case, there shouldn't really be a problem, right? He's smart and he has a lot of potential, even I can see that. So you wouldn't mind..."

"What makes you think I won't?" his cold tone made Tsuna flinch. He bowed his head, staring at his hands that rested on his lap and tried not to sweat too much.

"... Won't it be a waste? He's really smart, and with a little time he can be a very promising hitman." he muttered. "When that time comes, he might really be worth having around."

Silence.

Then a chuckle.

"You've used some really big words there, looks like my lessons have really stuck, huh?" Reborn crossed his arms. "It won't do for you to be alone all the time, you need some actual human interaction to improve more. Unfortunately, everyone in Namimori either dislikes you or avoids you like a plague, so this is just the perfect solution. You can count on him not to be dead weight if you ever got into trouble too."

"So you didn't plan on killing him? You could've told me." Tsuna grunted. He definitely did _not_ pout.

"I wanted to see how you two would react to each other. If you tried to shoot him, I thought for sure he'd put up a good fight."

So Reborn noticed the improvised explosive and their faces burnt with acid too. Well, it _was_ Reborn after all.

"He didn't though. He just sat there, didn't even fight back..."

Reborn snorted. "He was smarter than he looked. With just one glance, he saw right through you. He's the first person not to brush you off as some pathetic brat, even _I_ had thought the same."

"That was in the past." Tsuna grumbled.

"Nothing much has changed." he shrugged. "Although I guess your pathetic appearance can be useful for infiltration missions."

Reborn really loved to insult him. He was never the athletic type in the first place, the hitman should at least acknowledge his improvements.

"So are you going to train him too?" he asked, changing the subject.

"He's got a long way to go if he can't even beat you." Reborn smirked. "But it should be fun, so I'll roll with it. You better not make a habit out of picking up strays though."

"You were the one who planned on taking him with us in the first place!"

"Yeah, but it was ultimately your decision. You could've just killed the brat."

Tsuna grumbled, looking back out the window. Reborn could be so unreasonable sometimes.

The hitman only smirked. Making fun of his student was really, well, fun. Although this trip didn't really turned out as he expected it to be, Tsuna had learned a lot and they even got him a sparring buddy. Now Reborn doesn't have to worry about the brat slacking off whenever he's around. And if the stray really was smart, then maybe he could tutor Tsuna on his subjects instead, it would give the hitman a chance to take a break more often.

* * *

At the age of nine, Tsuna gained his first and most loyal subordinate (and also friend). Hayato didn't start going to school until Tsuna had entered middle school. Before that, he'd often be left at his apartment that Reborn and Tsuna got him and just wait for his first friend to come back home from school. He'd spend his time either training alone or making lesson plans to help Tsuna's grades improve.

Although Reborn would often assign missions for Hayato, more often than not it was in Italy. It helped improve his skills and he also respected the hitman greatly so Hayato took on whatever was thrown at him. These occasional visits to his birthland was the main reason why his family had a hard time locating him, since they all assumed he was still residing in Italy. The trouble he has caused while on missions has also earned him the name "Smoking Bomb". Of course, he makes sure to remain under the radar whenever he's in Japan as to not cause trouble for his benefactors.

Reborn had known Hayato was smart, but neither of them expected him to be such a genius. Not only in academics and the like, but also in the battlefield. It was his brains and the skills he learned through training with Tsuna that helped in forming The Council.

* * *

 **TOO MUCH UNNECESSARY INFORMATION -_-**

 **Like I said, it was supposed to have three backstories.**

 **ANYWAY, I think I wanna have fun in the next chapter and put in some blood but I'm not sure about that yet :/ Hey, you guys don't mind if I just focus on Tsuna or whatever character I feel like focusing on, right? Because I'm always worried that I might show favoritism and focus solely on one character so I think that I better give time for them all and write about all of them. I was planning on writing a confrontation scene between the other guardians and their families but... I wanna spill blood. They can talk later.**

 **So I hope you guys won't mind if some characters don't get too much attention :/ If you have any suggestions or requests though, I'm all ears :3**

 **Reviews:**

 **Lyndine -** I'm glad that little clue helped! :D Two out of four of your guesses are right, nice! ^_^ BTW, the sniper is Ninth :3

 **lovelydragonfly -** I'm so glad you liked it! :D

 **The Stargazing Shadow -** BLOOD! :D Tsuna isn't living with Giotto anymore, BTW. He's living with Reborn, like he has been ever since Nana moved to Italy :3 Oh, and Reborn's not a Council Member. He thinks of the whole thing as a bunch of brats playing around XD He's basically just an advisor or something. Hope you keep looking forward to the next chapter! :)

 **sousie -** Yes it is! ;) Look forward to the next chapter!

 **KeiraTheHeiress -** I'm so glad you did! :D And I'll try my best :3

 **linhliz -** I went with your idea! :D XD IKR? I really enjoyed writing Reborn and Tsuna's interaction on this chapter too! I love them! :3 And OMG, thank you!

 **Lucky Guard -** Thank you, I'm glad you did! :D Yes, because I wanted to make it more difficult to identify them so I used male pronouns on all of them. So I screwed up on one of them? XP Oh well, I'll try to update sooner next time!

 **SoulFlames -** Thank you for your support! :D I'll see you at the next chapter ;)

 **To all reviewers, I would like to thank you all for reviewing! Thank you for the support and I hope even the non-reviewers keep on supporting this story! This story also has 105 followers with only three chapters, like wow! :D Thank you ^_^**

 **Also, for the ones experiencing writer's block, imagine this; all the guardians fighting, causing trouble and just making a ruckus. And then they screw up and get Tsuna into trouble (probably destroyed something and somehow it was his fault). And Tsuna gets so upset, in a way that he's tired and stressed and his guardians are not helping. So he looks at them and gives them this heartbreakingly disappointed look and walks away. And that looks just leaves them, well, heartbroken. So they apologize and do everything to make up to him and Tsuna's confused but really happy. But deep down inside... he realizes that he's discovered the power that will help him take over the world.**

 **Or get his guardians to behave at least. Bonus, he inheritted that from Nana. (Duh)**

 **If you write this I will love you forever. I WANT to do it myself, but I'm not sure if I can find the time :/**

 **Anyway, Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


	5. Uninvited Guests and Invitations

**Missed me? ;)**

 **3,836 words! :D I'll try to make the next chapter more eventful :P**

 **Anyway, sorry for making you wait and I hope you'd enjoy this! ^_^**

* * *

Alaude stepped through the large gates and into a beautiful garden. Their house (mansion) in Namimori belonged to his paternal grandfather who had basically raised Kyouya. Their parents had hoped that he would live a normal life but the old man had been a war veteran who was really passionate about his job. So it wouldn't be a surprise if he somehow influenced the brat. Probably taught him a few tricks to win a fight too, God knows what they're parents had been thinking when they entrusted their child to that senile old man, it couldn't possibly mean anything good.

The old man had passed away only a few months prior. Alaude hadn't been able to attend the funeral, he didn't think much of it since he hadn't been close to him. It had been obvious in their family however that the elderly man had a huge impact on the youngest Hibari and the boy probably lived based on his grandfather's philosophies in life. That is; "the strong rule over the weak" and "a man's pride is his strength". No wonder the boy grew up to be so violent. Alaude had heard throughout his stay in Namimori so far that his brother was known as the "Demon of Namimori" and how he rules Namimori High with an iron fist.

The house was a large, traditional one and it was sometimes mistaken for a shrine. It was much too old-fashioned for his tastes, so Alaude never really enjoyed his stay there. Not that he visited often, he rarely had any reason to come to Namimori since it was a very peaceful town.

Alaude's eyes widened, barely noticable, before he dodged out of the way of a tonfa that had been aimed at his back. It embedded itself on the wall, just beside the door. He had been about to enter, but obviously he was not welcomed. He turned to the direction of his attacker to see none other than his little brat of a brother, glaring at him in his black and violet kimono. It was kind of strange to see him out of his normal school attire, but the brat had obviously picked up on their grandfather's traditional tastes.

"What are you doing here, herbivore?" Kyouya glared at him, his other tonfa out and ready to attack.

"You still act so childishly, Namimori does not belong to you. It would do you good to remember that."

Kyouya scoffed. "Namimori is my territory, Italy is yours. I respected that so it's only natural that you do the same."

"We made no such agreement. You cannot stop me, or anyone for that matter, from entering Namimori. No matter how much you claim to be its protector, you're still just some brat who's acting all high and mighty just because he managed to intimidate a few idiots to do his bidding." Alaude didn't miss the way Kyouya's grip in his tonfa had tightened but he chose to keep talking. "You should start thinking about actually learning on how things work. The world has rules, and you can't just ignore them forever. Being aware of the law is something everyone should know if they want to go far in life, whether you want to become a man of the law life father or an independent mafioso like mother."

Kyouya scowled. He did not appreciate being lectured in his own home. And yes, this was his home and not Alaude's so it was only natural that he had the right to control who and who cannot enter, right? He also didn't like the way he was being treated like a child. In his opinion, only his grandfather had the right to lecture him, anyone else was just some herbivore who knew nothing about anything and were so idiotic as to assume that they were right all the time.

"You want to talk about the law? Fine. This land belonged to our grandfather, and it was written in his will that when he died, I will receive it. So this does legally belong to me, and if I say you're not welcomed; you are not welcomed. So you _are_ trespassing."

Damn, he has a point. But Alaude was experienced enough not to let him know that, no need to get him all smug.

"This is family property-"

"It's _my_ property." he raised his tonfa. "Now get out."

"Why are you so adamant in getting me to leave? I just got here, it's common courtesy to invite a guest in and at the very least offer them tea."

"It's also common courtesy not to barge into someone's territory without their permission." Kyouya scowled, but quickly realized that the blond wasn't going to leave until he got whatever it was he came for. "State your business, herbivore."

Alaude crossed his arms. "From what our parents told us, you're currently a member of the Disciplinary Committee, correct?"

"The Disciplinary Committee _Chairman_."

He rolled his eyes. "Right... But they never mentioned anything about you becoming a _mercenary_."

"That's because I'm not." Kyouya glared at him. "I keep the peace, that's all there is to it."

"So a vigilante then? You think that's any better?" he raised an eyebrow.

"You think I _care_ about what you think?"

"Neither Mother or Father really appreciate your actions, not to mention the fact that you're acquainting yourself with the Sun Arcobaleno. And to top it all off, creating an _organization_ of all things." Alaude scowled. "Are you trying to be a hero? People are calling you and your friends 'protectors' even."

"Neither of them had ever cared about anything I do with my life up until this point, so I'd appreciate it if they didn't start now." Kyouya's eyes narrowed, not appreciating the fact that his brother of all people, now had information about the Council. But it should be fine, he may now know the identities of some members but what's important is he doesn't know the identities of the rest of them, especially the other Pillars. Even Hibari Kyouya could acknowledge how important their roles were in their little group. "Furthermore, when have I ever cared about what other people think of me?"

"You've always been immature, but we've all hoped that you'd grow out of your childishness." Alaude sighed. "Enough with this foolishness already, brat. I don't know why you joined the Sun Arcobaleno's team but I do know that nothing good will come out of it."

The younger Hibari glared at his brother, but to Alaude's surprise he actually put his weapons away. "If that's all you came to say then you can leave. I have other matters to attend to."

The blond frowned, knowing the brat was just going to ignore everything he said and keep on doing whatever he pleased.

"You have your reasons for joining this battle herbivore and I acknowledge that, so I hope you do the same." Kyouya said, making his way back into _his_ house. "If you want me out of the game that badly then you're going to have to beat me. Of course, before that happens..."

He flashed a deadly smirk with those bloodthirsty eyes he had undoubtedly inheritted from their mother. "I'll bite you to death."

Alaude snorted. "Cocky brat. You'd be down on the ground before you even realize I was there."

"We'll just have to see then, don't we?"

It was then when Alaude got an idea. "If you're so confident then how about we make a bet?"

Kyouya raised an eyebrow. "I have no interest in playing your silly games."

"If you win, I'll stop bothering you. I'll even get our parents to leave you alone, I'm sure you wouldn't want to go through all the trouble of getting them to leave if they ever come to visit. God knows Mother is as stubborn as you are..."

This got the teen to pause. "What's the bet?"

"Whoever gets their battle watch destroyed first loses."

"Then I already have a guaranteed victory." he smirked.

"If I win, you are to join Father in Tokyo and also cut all ties you have with your little 'Council'."

That wiped the smirk clean off his face and the glare returned. "I am the protector of Namimori-"

"Self-proclaimed." Alaude rolled his eyes, not noticing the way his grip on his tonfas tightened. "If you're so confident that you'll win then there should be nothing for you to worry about, right?"

"... What exactly do you know about the Council?" he asked carefully.

"Whatever is common knowledge for the people here. I also know five of its members, including you and I'm assuming that the two other fighters in your team that we haven't properly met yet are also members." Alaude explained. "It seems though that it originated from your Disciplinary Committee which has now become nothing but a branch of your 'organization'. Although I'm unclear on what you and your friends are trying to accomplish, I can be sure that the Sun Arcobaleno is behind most of your actions. He acts as a leader for you brats, doesn't he? Fitting, since you all hold so much potential yet lack experience. You'd be eaten alive by the mafia without someone like him to guide you around."

"This is your last warning, Kyouya. You have no idea what kind of man he is. It's best to stay away from him."

Kyouya paused, as if pondering on his words before muttering under his breath. "He and I are very similar then..."

"What?"

"If that's what you want to happen then just give it your all when we fight then, you better remember our agreement."

Alaude sighed. "I won't, so neither should you."

"I'm a man of my word, it's one of the only things Father has bothered to teach us after all." Kyouya said. "Now leave."

Things may not have gone as smoothly as he would've liked, but it was enough for now. He decided that leaving would be the best decision, so Alaude did just that and paid no more thought to his prodigal little brother. Kyouya on the other hand, was left with a lot to think about.

* * *

The next battle was held much sooner than expected, less than twenty-four hours after the previous one. All participants hurried to their positions, including a cloaked figure who took cover on the Namimori Middle School rooftop. Behind that figure was a blond who was just about to leave.

"Remember your orders, Ninth." the blond said.

"Understood." the hooded figure said. "Although I still don't understand why... It's much more troublesome to do it this way."

"I know, but what can we do? Reborn-san-"

"I work for the Tenth, not sensei." Ninth huffed. "Although I respect sensei a lot, I don't think that Tenth should always be listening to him."

"Well, that's how it's always been. And it's not like we can't understand, right?" the blond sighed. "Just do your job properly."

"Got it. It's not like I have much to do, anyway." Ninth sighed. "Good luck with your task as well, Seventh."

"Thanks, appreciate it." he waved, but stopped in his tracks just as he was about to close the door. "Ah, by the way. Have you talked to Boss about our plans of recruiting?"

Ninth tensed at these words. "It's not official yet, Sixth-"

"It's still a possibility. And there's still Fifth as well, I don't think the temporary replacement can hold on to the position any longer."

A sigh. "Tenth might make his move tonight. Although I'm not really sure since he's pretty tight-lipped about it, but it looks like he's already spotted the perfect candidate from how he's been acting lately."

"Really? So fast!" Seventh whistled. "Wonder who could it be..."

* * *

The battle begun, the time limit is one hour and thirty minutes. Not much has happened, and it seemed like the fights were brought to a standstill. The battles have been going on for quite some time now and yet no one has lost a battle watch yet. The most surprising thing about today's battle though was that Reborn's team has yet to make their move. That doesn't mean that they let their guard down though, but as time passed they soon forgot about that particular team in favor of focusing on their current situations.

G and Knuckle were currently fighting Dino while Alaude was fighting his little brother, who happened to be the only member of Team Reborn who was actually fighting. Daemon chose to mess around with the other players, particularly Team Verde who were were tougher than he thought. After being around Mukuro for some time, they apparently held some mental resistance which enabled them to see through some complicated illusions. Of course, Daemon could still beat them in a blink of an eye especially since his mist flames are on a whole different level compared to Mukuro's. But where was the fun in that? Finally, Lampo was hiding somewhere, he had said before the battle that someone should lay low just in case one of them needed back up. Giotto knew that it was just an excuse not to participate but he let him be since there was no harm in it.

Team Colonello was currently fighting Team Skull, it was 2 vs. 3 but since Colonello had Lal, a fellow arcobaleno, it evened the things out a bit. Julie and Adel were working together and still couldn't overpower Lal while Koyo was fighting Basil. And finally, there was Team Mammon joining in the feud between Daemon and Team Verde, they didn't really pick a side. So there was Bel attacking Ken, Squalo attacking Daemon while the man sends out illusions and Fran trying to counter the man's illusions.

Meanwhile, the Arccobalenos were focusing on the battles. Giotto and Cozart were having a friendly chat on who would get taken out that night, Iemitsu and I pin were quietly watching, Xanxus was taking a nap and Mukuro was observing their surroundings. The illusionist was rather curious about their opponents, there were a lot of interesting figures participating in this little game. But one in particular caught his attention, and like the first day the boy had chosen not to mingle with them.

Well, if that brat was allowed to venture the forest, then there was no harm if he did the same as well right? Just to be sure though, he left an illusion of himself at his spot before leaving the clearing. Nobody will even realize he left.

Although finding the boy may prove to be a challenge, where would he even start to look? It was a rather large forest and there was barely an hour left in the time limit. It was going to be tough to find him.

"You got bored?"

Or maybe not.

He didn't have to walk far at all. The clearing was still in plain sight, but they were definitely out of earshot and the people there most likely couldn't see them since it was so far. But it kind of disturbed Mukuro how fast he found the boy, it was almost like the brunet had been waiting for him.

But then again, if he recalled yesterday's events, it would make sense that he wouldn't go too far. It was only right that even if he wasn't around the other participants, he would still be close enough to Reborn just in case something like what happened yesterday occurred. Although it was obvious that the hitman was more than capable of taking care of himself. This brat was pretty much a mindless subordinate if you were to ask him. Verde had filled them in on the information he got from little Sawada Tsunayoshi and it was most likely that the other teams know as well.

He couldn't help but be curious, it was obvious that the number one hitman was the one behind the creation of The Council. Young Tsunayoshi may be the official 'leader', he was most likely just a puppet. If Mukuro were to make a guess, the hitman was creating his own private army and it's honestly turning out well. From how skilled they seemed on the previous fight, Mukuro knew that they were not people to be taken lightly.

"Kufufu, you could say that. Today's battle is rather uneventful."

"So I've heard." the boy muttered, Mukuro didn't miss the way he glanced at his watch.

"Perhaps it wouldn't be this way if you and your team are a bit more active?" Mukuro smirked. It's another thing that made him curious, why the absence?

"Yeah, I suppose. My friends like to make things a lot more... exciting than it should be."

"They do seem like the energetic sort, don't they?" he smiled that fake smile of his. "So? Why don't you go and make things more interesting?"

"Reborn's orders."

"Everyone of you except the skylark are to lay low?"

"No, Hibari-san just has a knack of not doing as he's told." he couldn't help but chuckle. "Our orders were mostly to sit back and quietly watch today's battle. We already expected Hibari-san not to listen though, but Reborn didn't mind. We're used to him doing whatever he likes."

The illusionist frowned at this. Now why would the hitman do such a thing?

Well, if you would think about it, it was a smart choice. Wait until the others have beaten each other up and be the team with the most members remaining. That would raise their chances of winning. But still, Mukuro wouldn't have pegged the hitman to be the kind to resort to such a cheap tactic.

"Why do you follow him?"

"Because I want to, and because he lets me."

Well, he could see the appeal in that. It's not everyday that the world's greatest hitman takes on a student. But judging by the boy's behavior, he was really starting to think that his initial thoughts on the situation were indeed correct.

Those eyes, they were wide and honey-brown in color, seemingly innocent. But there was a blank look in them, the way it was just so dull and lifeless almost disturbed him. No civilian had eyes like those, they belonged to the most unfortunate people of the mafia. People who have seen things and experienced their innocence be forcibly torn from their being and left only an empty shell of a human being.

Mukuro liked this boy.

Unfortunately, it looks like that man had already taken advantage of the boy's... condition and made him into a lifeless puppet. Well, not exactly lifeless. But it seems like he would follow whatever the Sun Arcobaleno told him to do. Something in his eyes even told Mukuro that this boy would _gladly_ sacrifice his life if need be.

"Why did you join this little game?" Mukuro asked because apparently, they were playing 20 questions. Well, the boy seemed like he was in the mood to answer so why not take advantage of the opportunity and gain more information about his possibly future opponent?

"Because I can't let Reborn die." he said simply. Looks like the hitman ingrained some loyalty into him as well. "Why did you?"

Mukuro was a little taken back by this. "Kufufu, curious?"

"Well, who wouldn't? You have no connection to Verde as far as I know. So there was no reason for you to agree to be his representative."

"And how would you know that?" Mukuro smirked, looks like they did their fair share of research.

"Are you looking for Nagi?"

Mukuro froze.

He almost dropped his trident because of the shock.

This boy ...!

"I thought so." Tsuna hummed. "She's dead, you know?"

"I'm well aware." Mukuro gritted his teeth. "How do you know about her?"

"She moved into Namimori a long time ago. It's a small town, almost everyone knows each other." Tsuna shrugged. "What happened was a real tragedy. She was a shy girl and no one really knew much about her, but the car accident apparently happened because she was trying to save a cat. You can tell that she was a nice girl."

That was honestly the first Mukuro's heard about that, but it was nice to know that Nagi had still been the sweet and kind girl he remembered her to be.

"If no one knew much about her then how do you know that I'm here for her?"

"You're not the only one with connections." Tsuna hummed, swinging his legs from his spot at a branch high up on a tree. "Once we found out about it, we thought that may be your reason for coming here."

"... I see." that was unsettling. It seems keeping secrets really were impossible when it comes to the mafia.

"So. Are you here to know more about her life here?" Tsuna asked. "Why all of a sudden?"

"... I think there's more to her death than meets the eye." Mukuro said. "You call yourselves 'The Council', correct? So you're similar to a government figure?"

Tsuna hummed. "I suppose so..."

"Then you wouldn't happen to have any idea about it, would you?"

"Well, it happened around four years ago, didn't it?" Tsuna asked. "That was around the same time we were laying the foundations for the Council so it had been a pretty busy time for us. In any case, investigations aren't really our thing. Plus, it looked like a complete accident so we didn't bother with it."

"... I see. It's a shame." Mukuro sighed. Well, he couldn't really blame them. He had thought the same for such a long time too.

"... We can help you."

"What?" he asked, clearly confused.

"If you want information, we're the best option. Ask anyone."

You're willing to _help_ me?"

"At a price."

Of course. Mukuro inwardly sighed, he should have expected that. "What do you want?"

"You."

"... _What_?" he asked, unsure of what to make of that.

At this, Tsuna jumped off of the branch and gracefully landed in front of Mukuro. He dusted off his clothes for a second before focusing all his attention back to the illusionist.

"Mukuro Rokudo, I'd like to invite you to join The Council for Heaven's Judgment."

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! :D Especially that cliffhanger at the end XD**

 **Sorry it took a while for me to update, school just started again and it's been a pain already -_- I'll try to update faster though :3**

 **Nothing much else to say...**

 **Reviews:**

 **annaita816 -** seeing your update today made me motivated to finish this chapter today. I failed though because it's already 11:50 . Thank though! :3 I hope you like this update!

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 **Thank you so much for reviewing and I hope you all keep doing that even though I have a shitty update schedule T^T**

 **I didn't manage to put in some blood, although I was gonna put some in right there during Alaude and Hibari's encounter. But then I thought, nah. Too early :/ Soon though.**

 **Soon...**

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	6. Loyalty and Betrayal

**I just wanted you guys to know that I was just about finished with the author's note until the laptop suddenly restarted and I had to write it all over again and it might not seem that big of a deal it's still annoying as hell -_-**

 **Anyway, 4471 words! I'm really proud of this chapter because I had fun writing it and I managed to make it sort of eventful :3**

 **I hope you enjoy ~ !**

* * *

"Join you?" Mukuro almost laughed. "Now why would I do that?"

"You came here looking for Nagi's mother right? If there was anyone who knew the full story, the truth about what happened, it would be her, after all." Tsuna asked. "The only problem is that nobody knows where she is, we've already checked and there are no records of where she could be. All information about her and her deceased family burned along with their mansion four years ago. She disappeared completely, and the police even assumed she was dead."

Mukuro's eyes narrowed. "But you know something."

"Nothing escapes the Eighth Council Member's watchful eyes." Tsuna mused. "It's not much, but if you want to find her then we're your best bet."

Mukuro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Why would you want me?"

"Oh? I never would've thought that you were the insecure type."

"Stop playing around, Tsunayoshi. It's just that I've been informed about you." Mukuro scoffed. "Your little group protects Namimori, you're basically vigilantes who took in the job nobody wanted. Despite the incentives you have to offer, I'm sure you weren't as foolish as to believe that I'd willingly join you so easily."

"But you cared about your sister, right?" Tsuna asked. "It's why you're here."

Mukuro paused, suddenly remembering the shy yet bright smile Nagi often gave him when they were kids.

"That's not the point Tsunayoshi. Surely you know who I am?"

"Mukuro Rokudo. You're pretty infamous throughout the mafia, causing a lot of trouble with your little gang. I heard you took done several mafia famiglias in the past few years. Killed lots of people too." Mukuro would never admit that the way the boy nonchalantly said the last part slightly disturbed him.

"Correct, so what makes you think that someone who causes trouble and is so used to spreading chaos would make a good candidate to be in a group of people whose jobs is to protect and maintain order?"

"Well... simple, why did you do all that?"

"... What?"

"Destroying famiglias, hunting down mafiosi, being a headache in general for a lot of people, why do you do it?" Tsuna asked.

Mukuro's eyes narrowed. "Because I despise the mafia."

"There you go." Tsuna smiled, his eyes holding bitter amusement. "You're already more than qualified to be a Council Member."

Mukuro blinked in confusion before the implications of the statement finally registered in his head and he had to hold himself back from bursting out in a fit of laughter. "Kufufu, you really are interesting, Tsunayoshi..."

"So does that mean you agree?"

"Don't be foolish, I've merely just found a new source of entertainment. I have no interest in your offer. Furthermore, no matter how you look at it, it's too suspicious. Why would you suddenly want an eleventh member?" Mukuro said. And in a split second, Tsuna had a trident that seemingly popped out of nowhere pointed at his face. "In any case, if I needed you I don't have to join your little group and listen to any of your commands. I just-"

CLANG!

And the trident was on the ground. Mukuro's eyes widened, unable to comprehend what just happened. And then he felt a cut form on his cheek.

Shit! A bullet?! Where was it coming from?!

"Ninth missed on purpose, we have orders not to take anyone out just yet, after all. Also, a word of advice; don't underestimate us." Tsuna stated. "Although I understand that it's a bit sudden, you don't have to answer me right now. Take your time and think about it, no pressure. Being a Council Member is a heavy obligation after all."

Mukuro's eyes narrowed, quickly scanning his surroundings. He could easily tell the direction from where that bullet came from, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the sniper. One thing was for sure though, it came from someone in a slightly higher ground. But no matter how far Mukuro sent out his mist flames, he just couldn't sense anyone. How far was that sniper shooting from?!

"Well, for now you should just go back quietly."

"Kufufu, looking down me now, are you?" Mukuro kept smirking, but inside he wanted to torture this boy. The illusionist didn't like being underestimated.

"It's not that, I'm sure you're going to be a tough opponent to beat. But now's not the time for us to fight, just wait a bit more." Tsuna shrugged. "But if you insist on fighting, then we're just gonna have to make it so that you can't fight us."

Mukuro didn't miss the way the boy glanced at his green watch and he quickly put two and two together.

He had no idea of the sniper's location, so he had no way of defending himself from the bullets. He could put up an illusion, but the boy would most likely interfere. And he wasn't even sure about the identity of the sniper, if that person had any experiences with illusions, then they might see through it and it would be pointless. Regardless of that, it'd be two against one, and all they'll have to do was destroy his boss watch and it would be game over.

Although for a sniper, that should be easy enough. It made him wonder why they didn't just do that for all the boss watches. Or better yet, the arcobaleno watch. Given how precise the sniper was in taking those two shots, it shouldn't be a challenge for this 'Ninth' person to actually take everyone down at once. The most they'll have to do was get a little bit closer which shouldn't be too hard. Mukuro's managed to expand his mist flames throughout the whole forest at this point (except for the clearing, that is) and he still couldn't find the sneaky little bastard. 'Ninth' was most likely in at a building located within Namimori, that was actually very impressive. The council member's skill was on par with some high class mafiosi.

Back to the current situation at hand, he wanted to kill this boy. Mutilate him and make him go through all seven levels of hell with his illusions, all because the brat had the fucking audacity to look down on him. Him, Mukuro Rokudo who has destroyed entire famiglias within weeks, taken down some of the most infamous and skilled mafiosi this world has to offer and manage to get away with it all. And this boy who was just a puppet for some dying arcobaleno was acting all high and mighty.

Well, he'll have his time. Mukuro was nothing if not patient, he knew when to back down when the need arises.

"Well then, I suppose I'll just have to look forward to our little spar, Tsunayoshi-kun. I just hope it'll happen sooner rather than later." Mukuro bent down to pick up his trident only to quickly retract his hand when another bullet almost hit it. Tsuna's hand immediately flew up, looking like a student who knew the answer to a teacher's question, which would've amused Mukuro since he knew about the boy's poor performance in school but was too busy glaring at him.

"Sorry about that, Ninth can get very... overprotective."

Mukuro's eyes narrowed before slowly reaching out for his trident once again. Once grabbing it, he slowly backed away. Tsuna still kept his hand up, most likely a signal for his sniper to cease fire.

"Think about it. It's honestly not as bad as you think..." Tsuna spoke up once Mukuro was making his way back. Mukuro only looked back at him with a rather strained smile.

"Kufufu, I will."

Not the first lie he's ever told.

* * *

Ninth didn't care who it was, if someone wanted to hurt the Tenth then they'll find themselves riddled with holes and bleeding on the ground before they even lay a finger on him.

The sniper watched the Lightning Arcobaleno's representative through the scope on the rifle. So he was the one the Tenth chose after all...

Although Ninth knew that Tsuna had been considering him, it was still a bit surprising that the Head Council member went and invited the man. It didn't go too well either. Sighing, the sniper rifle was lowered in favor of observing the faint glow in the distance; it was the clearing where all the Arcobalenos were gathered at.

"Joining this was a mistake..." Ninth muttered and was left wondering what would happen to the Council after all of this was over and done with.

Well, to be honest, Ninth didn't really care. Whatever happens will happen, all that matters was the Tenth's safety.

"My life belongs to the Tenth, not you, sensei. I owe you so much, but if I have to choose, I would pick my boss' life over yours."

* * *

The battle soon ended, and there were only two people who got their watches destroyed; Ken and Knuckle. Daemon had gotten bored of playing with them, so he decided to destroy their watches to get them out of the way and focus on Team Mammon. Unfortunately for him though, Fran managed to get away with the help of his illusions. Although whether this is a good or bad thing for the young child is debatable.

Knuckle was out of the battle for admittedly letting his guard down, it was hard not to when it was two against one after all.

And that concluded the battle for the day; they all went their separate ways with each one of them sending a suspicious look towards a certain hitman. Nobody noticed the troubled look on a certain illusionist or how there was a thin layer of mist flames surrounding his cheek to hide a small cut.

* * *

Team Reborn regrouped, or at least most of them did.

"Well, that was pretty boring." Hayato muttered.

"Yeah, I have to agree on that. But it's not like we wasted our time, right?" Takeshi grinned.

"We're going to do EXTREMELY well on the next fight!"

Kyouya stayed quiet, standing a few feet away from the group and looking slightly annoyed. Probably because he wasn't able to beat his brother.

"Is there any news on the others?" Tsuna spoke up.

"Yes, Tenth! I've already contacted Ninth who reported that the mission was a complete success! First and Seventh managed everything so it went smoothly and Sixth is going on to take all the necessary precautions as well as analyzing the data they've gathered. All four of them are heading back to base as we speak." Hayato reported, like the reliable and obedient right hand man that he was. "The brat on the other hand apparently got bored and wandered off somewhere, so Fifth went to retrieve him. I've given him the order of returning to base once he does."

"Good, tell him to hurry. There's something we need to talk about." Tsuna muttered. "We should head back too."

The slightly troubled look on their boss' face as well as the urgent tone that was barely noticeable in his tone alarmed the other council members, even Kyouya who looked at the brunet curiously.

"Is something wrong, Tenth?! Did something happen?!"

"Well... Hibari-san, remember what you told us earlier?"

Kyouya raised an eyebrow but nodded. He had told his fellow council members about his encounter with his brother, not because he felt obliged to, but because it was concerning how much Alaude knew about the council. It might mean that they'll have to tighten up security because if Vongola managed to find out about them, then others might be able to as well.

Alaude knew too much, and that was going to be a big problem for them.

"It looks like the information was spread not only to Vongola. I spoke to Mukuro Rokudo earlier and he knew a lot about us too."

"What?" Hayato asked, their eyes widening.

"You shouldn't be surprised, brats. This is the mafia, after all." Reborn suddenly spoke up. "Besides, it's not that hard of a connection to make."

"Yeah, but from my talk earlier with Mukuro... This could be an even bigger problem than what we think."

"Huh? What do you mean, Tenth?"

It wasn't much, but Tsuna did get a few things out of Mukuro. What was obvious that Mukuro had done some research, but all there was were rumors about them. And yeah, one could connect the dots and figure a few things out but what he had gotten from the illusionist had been more than something you could get out of deduction from hearing baseless rumors.

 _"Why do you follow him?"_

Tsuna had made it clear last time that he, along with the others, volunteered to be Reborn's representative. Yet, Tsuna would willingly die for Reborn if the hitman so much as asks. Yesterday, after the previous battle, they have been convinced that Tsuna held some sort of grudge against them which was why he joined the battle. And that the grudge was so great that he was willing to work for one if not the most dangerous mafioso in the world because of it. And yet suddenly, they were made aware of Tsuna's loyalty towards the hitman. They knew that the two had a personal relationship other than a teacher and his student, which they shouldn't have been able to figure out because everyone knew Reborn liked to keep things professional and that sort of thing doesn't earn you anyone's loyalty.

 _"Then you wouldn't happen to have any idea about it, would you?"_

This was a genuine question, Mukuro wouldn't have asked that if he didn't think Tsuna knew the answer to it. And the only reason he would have the answer to that is because he was part of the council.

But the Council hadn't been formed during that time. Everyone knew this, at that time they were just a vigilante group no one knew about because they worked in the shadows and even retired hitmen brushed them off because mafiosi going around causing trouble had been common place at the time. No one knew about their existence until three years ago at most, and they hadn't even been _that_ (in)famous back then.

 _"No matter how you look at it, it's too suspicious. Why would you suddenly want an eleventh member?"_

How did Mukuro know that there were only ten of them? It was well-known that there were only six generals, but no one knew the exact number of council members. They had been mistaken to have eleven or twelve because that was counting Reborn who, although joined in during their meetings, was not a member of their organization and mostly just served as a bystander and outside adviser, and also the future Fifth who was too young to fill in the current spot in the council, but he was technically not a council member yet.

People make that common mistake and they've never done anything to correct it. So it was strange how Mukuro had said that if he were to join, he would be the eleventh member. If he had gotten that information out of all the numerous rumors, he wouldn't have said that so off-handedly and with confidence.

He knew that there were only ten official council members, something even someone who had lived in Namimori their entire lives wouldn't have been sure of. He knew that the Council has been around long before the people of Namimori had been aware of them. For Tsuna, the answer to how Mukuro knew all of that was obvious. He knew of Tsuna's loyalty with Reborn. And the others probably did too.

And to Tsuna, it was quite obvious just how he knew all of that.

 _"Stop playing around, Tsunayoshi. It's just that I've been informed about you."_

"Information about us is being leaked..." Tsuna said and all their expressions darkened instantly.

"Leaked?" Takeshi asked, his usual smile completely disappearing.

"A... traitor?" Hayato gritted his teeth.

"Huh, pretty impressive." Reborn smirked, almost looking proud. "So? What do you plan to do now, Dame-Tsuna?"

"Reborn..."

"Don't worry, this is a matter involving the Council. I'm a complete outsider, so I won't interfere." Reborn smirked. "In any case, you already know who it is, right?"

"You do too?" Well, Tsuna shouldn't have been surprised. Reborn had probably already figured it all out before the second battle had even started.

"I'm the World's Greatest Hitman, Dame-Tsuna. Of course I do."

"Omnivore..." Kyouya growled, not appreciating being kept in the dark about anything.

"We'll talk about this once we get back." the brunet motioned them all to follow, Reborn couldn't help chuckle.

"You say that but... You've already decided, haven't you?"

That goes the same for all of them.

* * *

Early the next day...

Team Skull was discussing their strategy.

"Well... This is a bit troublesome." Julie muttered. "Things aren't really looking that good for us right now."

"Our opponents are well-known and some of the strongest in the world, we already expected that this won't be easy." Adel sighed. "But still, with the proper strategy we can still turn things around. We're all capable fighters after all, we still have a chance."

"That's right! You were the ones that I, the mighty Skull-sama, has chosen as representatives. I have the utmost confidence that you'll win!"

"Sorry, we went and got beaten..." Rauji muttered.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Cozart laughed nervously. "In any case, let's review everything we know so far."

"Cozart-nii! I'm gonna go buy some snacks at the convenience store, do you guys want any?" Enma, a freshman in highschool who looked so disturbingly similar to his older, more capable brother, entered the living room where they were having their meeting.

"Ah, just a couple drinks would be fine, Enma."

"You should rest, it's Saturday anyway so take the opportunity to take a break. You've been working real hard this week." Adel said.

"It's fine." he waved it off with a sheepish smile. "Well, I'll be off!"

"Don't take too long!" Julie called out.

"Be careful!" Adel added.

"I will!"

"Enma can be a clumsy wimp sometimes, but he can be really reliable when he wants to be, huh?" Shitt P. hummed.

"Shittopi-chan! Don't say rude things about Enma!"

Cozart just laughed. "Well, she has a point. Even I was surprised at how eager he's been to help, well I guess it's because you're close to him, huh, Skull?"

"Yep! I have completely earned that boy's loyalty! Not that it was a difficult thing to do considering how great I am."

Cozart only laughed at his friend's antics.

"Well, I guess it's also a good thing that we let him stay in Namimori, huh?" Julie hummed. "We got a lot of information out of him, especially about that Council thing."

"I never would've pegged him to be the type to be so well-informed, though." Koyo commented and that made Cozart pause.

"Neither did I, but I guess that's the mafia blood showing." he shrugged it off.

If only he didn't.

* * *

The convenience store was a couple blocks from their house, but Enma chose to go the long way and went through a few alleys to avoid bumping into the bullies that he refused to tell his family about. Once done buying everything, he made his way back through the same path he used to get there just to be safe.

He would've been safer if he had just walked through the streets where there could have been more eye-witnesses.

"Enjoying your day, _General_?" a voice spoke up, spitting out the last part in a mocking fashion and Enma stopped in his tracks, he knew that voice. Not well, but there was no mistaking who it was.

"So they sent the Fifth, huh? I feel like I should be insulted." Enma chuckled humorlessly.

"I'm the one who should be insulted." Enma turned around and was faced with a hooded figure whose entire body was hidden underneath a cloak. "How _dare_ you betray us!?"

"I didn't want to, but it's something that I've been wanting to do for a while now..." the redhead admitted. "What Tsuna-kun is doing just isn't right-"

"You think you have the right to address him so casually?!" he snapped. "After what you've done, how can you still consider yourself as his friend?!"

"I still find it funny how high your respect is for him when you used to treat him like dirt, _Mochida-senpai_." Enma scoffed. "Drop the cloak, I know it must be hot under all that. Besides..."

Enma looked around. They were in a narrow alley, suitable for Mochida's way of fighting. Not so much for Enma's though. But that wasn't what got his attention.

"There's no point in hiding yourself anymore, right? I can already sense the mist flames that are surrounding us, no one can hear or see what's happening here. It's just between us." Not only that, but Enma also sensed the presence of a few other individuals. Though their flames were not as strong as Mochida, who he knows was the weakest out of all the Generals. They were most likely Commanders.

The cloak was removed, revealing a tall high schooler with spiky black hair and a lean build. He held a katana on one hand with a determined look on his eyes.

Enma remembered how Mochida had been like back then; arrogant and aggressive. But once he joined the Council, he's been more quiet, having learned his place and becoming loyal to the Council. He was strong, strong enough to earn him a place as a General. But not as strong as the others, and definitely not stronger than Enma.

"Are you going to point your sword at your superior?"

"You've stopped being my superior the moment you put the Council in danger!" Mochida growled. "We don't know how much information you've leaked, but you've done more than enough damage to be considered as an enemy."

"So you're going to fight me? You, of all people?" Enma frowned at this, Tsuna must've been the one to decide this.

It was cruel to say the least. It didn't have to be him, especially if you consider the fact that they were in Ninth's District.

Mochida had been one of the people to pick on Enma in the past, but since the older teen joined they became quite good friends. More than that, Mochida respected Enma and for good reason too. A reason that the Simoun member didn't like to remember.

Enma was one of Tsuna's closest friends, and he had been one of the members of the little vigilante group that helped 'purge' Namimori of all the scum that soiled the perfectly nice and peaceful town. He had been stupid back then, only thinking about how frustrated he was with life and its unfairness. He had needed something to let his frustrations out on. And Tsuna, along with Reborn, had provided the perfect solution.

It was nice at first, but as time passed, Enma got sick of it. He didn't take pleasure in crushing enemies, although it initially did. Instead, he felt conflicted and uncomfortable, no matter how many times he told himself that they were doing the right thing. But then, it came to the point that he realized that he didn't want to do it anymore and just be an ordinary student like he used to be. He told Tsuna this and his friend, along with the other council members, respected his decision but told him that if he were to change his mind, they were to welcome him with open arms. It made him happy back then.

During the time he has made his decision, the Council was beginning to form and Tsuna had wanted him to become one of the council members. Namimori may have been a small town, but there had been many places that needed thorough management and that would be difficult with just five Generals to govern over them. Tsuna had wanted Enma to take over only for a while, just until their little charge was old enough to actually be able to manage the responsibility of being General.

Enma was adamant about 'retiring' though, so instead he just suggested getting someone else to take his place.

Enma had recommended Mochida, and for that the Kendo player was forever grateful. That may have been the only reason they made him into a General, it was a great honor for the teen who was already so loyal to them at the time. Mochida had repeatedly expressed his gratitude and respect towards Enma, saying that he'll do his best not to disappoint him and Enma had just smiled at Mochida. They really were good friends.

Now here they were.

"Mochida... I'm sorry." Enma said sincerely. He had betrayed his friends' trust, that was something inexcusable. "But I don't regret what I've done. Tsuna-kun needs to be defeated."

"Tsk, not even gonna bother to deny it or make an excuse... At least tell me you had no other choice." Mochida glared at him. "Well, you know how this goes right? I have protocol to follow."

"Yeah..." he nodded grimly.

"Simoun Enma, you have been accused by the Tenth Council Member of treason. You have violated the first law the Council has set upon their territory."

"Betrayal is an intolerable act that, if proven, is punishable by death." Enma recited these words by heart.

"How do you plead?"

"Does it matter? You already have a verdict, right?" Enma sighed. "Guilty."

"The Council has made a unanimous decision. So, by order of the Tenth, otherwise known as the Head Council Member, I hereby sentence you to death." Mochida gripped his sword. "As the Fifth Council Member, I will execute you."

At that moment, flames burst on Enma's forehead. "Just try it."

* * *

 **Hope you liked that!**

 **Confirmed Fifth Council Member is Mochida and a little backstory too :3 I gave Tsuna a bit deduction skills that were most likely assisted by his Hyper Intuition. I'm proud of that ^_^ Feel free to ask any questions if something doesn't make sense to you!**

 **BTW, I have a few story ideas so I may post a few one-shots but I won't forget to give this story love! Don't worry ^_^**

 **Reviews:**

 **sousie -** It was? XD Thank you!

 **Breath after Death -** Like the name, and your kindness gives me life :D Thank you!

 **linhliz -** Will he though? :^) Yeah, but that's sort of the thing with family you know? Or in society in general, people underestimate you because you're younger. People automatically think that just because their older, they know better. Plus, Alaude has been working as a mafioso and guardian to the most powerful mafia famiglia this world has to offer so it would make sense that he would think that he's superior to his brother who spent his whole life living in the "safety of Japan". In his eyes, Kyouya was a child who knows nothing about the world and how cruel it can be. And knowing Kyouya, the only way to get him to listen was to put it bluntly to the point of being harsh. This is what Alaude thinks, it's not that I'm defending him though. I just don't want it to seem like I'm antagonizing him . His crime here is being ignorant and neglectful of the brother he should have looked after.

Yeah, I like to rant. I'm so passionate about this fanfic, it's almost embarrassing . I'm glad you liked it and thank you for the wonderful review! :D

 **Lucky Guard -** Here you go! I hope you liked this one as well ^_^ The next one should be out soon since I have a lot of free time this week so look forward to that ~ :3

 **silverstar456 -** Is it? :D I'm glad you liked it! And if you like cliffhangers well... I absolutely ADORE them :3

 **ctdiaz -** Aw, thank you for your support! I'm glad you like it!

 **NagiRokudo -** Mukuro loves you, Nagi ^_^ Ara? Well, who knows? ^_^ Thanks ~ ! :D

 **KeiraTheHeiress -** I'm glad you did! :D I was planning to, it really WAS supposed to have 1827 fluff, but then I decided to just put it in a separate story :3 I don't know when I'll be able to start working on that though...

 **Thank you so much for the lovely reviews ~ Sorry it took a while for me to update, but I was going to during the weekend but stuff happened and I couldn't finish this :/ I'll try to update more regularly ^_^ Although at most, that's every week...**

 **Anyway, Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


	7. Order for Persecution

**3,641 words! And so soon too! :D**

 **I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Enma's been gone for a while, hasn't he?" Adel asked, worriedly. "Do you think he bumped into some other representatives?"

"Maa maa, you're such a worrywart. He probably got held up because he bumped into a classmate or whatever." Julie shrugged.

"You shouldn't take this lightly! Unlike us, Enma isn't a representative so it's perfectly okay for the others to attack him."

"Calm down, Adel..." Cozart was starting to sweat nervously, hoping that she wouldn't lash out. "Shittopi-chan, why don't you go and look for him. Maybe he still went ahead and bought snacks for us, knowing that kid he probably did."

"Then wouldn't he be having trouble carrying everything?" Rauji asked.

"Tsk, that's most likely what happened." Koyo sighed.

Shitt P. only stuck her tongue out at them before bouncing away and they continued their conversation where they left off.

* * *

Mochida jumped back only to lurch forward, coughing up blood. His limbs were trembling from pain caused by the several injuries Enma had inflicted on him. Meanwhile, the redhead seemed to be unscathed. Mochida couldn't even land a hit.

"In the state you're in now, it's only natural that you can't even hope to beat me. My power's in par with Tsuna-kun, after all. Meanwhile, you're nothing but a substitute." Enma glared at his former upperclassman. "It doesn't have to be this way, Mochida-senpai. Don't you realize that what their doing is _wrong_. You should know better than anybody, since you've been in and even participated in the council meetings."

"Shut up, you think I would listen to a traitor?!" Mochida righted himself and took a step closer and prepared to tackle the younger teen once again. But found himself not only unable to move but also being slammed to the pavement. He lost his grip on his sword and it suddenly flew towards Enma, who caught it easily.

There was no way he could beat him, the power of the Earth Flame is way too strong.

Enma didn't want to cause any unnecessary commotion since it could potentially harm civilians, so he had to limit himself with using only the gravity manipulation his Earth flames grant him. But it was more than enough. He may not be as fast and skilled as Mochida, but Enma wins when it comes to power and experience.

Tsuna must have known this, did he think that Enma would be too kind and unwilling to fight Mochida? Well if he did, then he was wrong.

"Mochida-senpai, it's not too late for you, for _any_ of you. Just please, stop _this_."

"Stop _what_?" Mochida asked, but Enma only kept a straight face. Realization seemingly struck the older teen. "You know..."

Enma nodded, which only enraged Mochida even more.

"Tenth trusted you and then you pulled off something like this?!"

"I _had_ to." Enma snapped, desperately trying to get him to understand. "Don't you understand what would happen if you guys were to really go through it?!"

"Do _you_ realize what would happen if we don't?!"

"It doesn't have to be this way! Just..." Enma sighed, frustrated. "Giotto-san can help you guys. He will if you just-"

"You know we can't, Enma." Mochida scowled. "You know damn well... In any case, do you really think Tenth would resort to such a thing? Even if Reborn-san himself ordered him, he hates his own brother too much."

Enma clenched his fists. "If only he could just..."

"What? Forgive? Like you're one to talk." Mochida spat out.

Well, he's got a point there.

"Whatever your reason is, I don't want to hear it." He struggled to get up but the Earth flames kept him pressed on the pavement.

Enma sighed. "... I'm sorr-"

Pain exploded throughout his right shoulder and then again at his abdomen. It was so intense that it made him stumble back and lose his concentration, freeing Mochida from the Earth flames that kept him bound to the ground. Enma tried to regain composure but he felt it again at his leg, a little above his right knee. He fell to his knees and hands immediately flew towards the places where the pain originated from as he started coughing up blood.

"Wha...?" Extracting one hand from his shoulder, he saw how much blood was flowing out of the wound that he didn't remember getting.

Shit!

"You let your guard down." Mochida said, picking up his sword which lay beside Enma's trembling form.

He did, he completely disregarded the fact that this was Ninth's territory.

"I'm still not strong enough, after all..." Mochida sighed. "I wanted to finish this myself without no one interfering."

Enma was about to speak up, until he found a sword only an inch from the side of his neck. It was not Mochida's sword.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, senpai! Enma's really strong, after all!" Takeshi laughed from behind Enma and the teen could feel all color draining from his face, although it's unclear if it's because of his current predicament or because of the blood loss.

"Che! You both got cocky, that's pathetic!"

Nope, it was because of his current situation. It was at that moment that Enma knew there was no escaping his fate. He was _dead_. He couldn't even stand up because of the bullet on his leg, and if he were to make any bad move, Ninth would take him out with a headshot.

Not to mention the fact that the bloodloss was starting to make it hard for him to maintain consciousness.

"C'mon, Hayato. Give him a break! You gotta admit that he did well."

"Did well?! He got his ass kicked! Tsk, it's because he underestimated his opponent. A fucking rookie mistake."

"Well, I guess even you still have a long way to go, huh, senpai?" Takeshi laughed it off. And then Enma felt the blade touch his neck which made him flinch.

"Tsk, I'll deal with you later." Hayato scowled. "For now, we'll deal with the traitor."

"Yeah, we should finish this up real quick before his family starts looking for him." Takeshi chuckled darkly. "It's really a shame, Enma. Since you weren't on Team Skull, I was hoping that we can keep on fighting together."

"It just proves that you can't trust anyone." Hayato walked into Enma's line of sights while Takeshi stayed behind him, pressing the sword against his neck, enough to draw blood. "Well, you know the rules. You were there when we set them, after all. Even agreed to them."

Enma gulped and was visibly sweating. He muttered, "Betrayal is punishable by death."

* * *

"Adel! Cozart!"

Everyone jumped with their guards up and ready to fight when Shitt P. burst into the room, clearly panicked and sweating. She must have run all the way back.

"Shittopi-chan, are you alright? What happened?" Cozart asked, expression and voice filled with worry. But Adel was focused on something else, since she can clearly see that her friend was alright.

"Where's Enma?" she asked, dreading what she was going to hear.

Shitt P. looked at them with a fearful expression and Cozart started feeling the same.

They ended up following her out and she led them to the park near their home, where a small crowd has already started to form. Shitt P. had stopped running and looked at them with worry.

A part of Cozart didn't want to see what was going on because he dreaded what he would find. But nevertheless, he stepped up and made his way through the crowd. The sight that greeted him made his heart drop, he stood there frozen, unable to believe what he was seeing. The only thing that snap him out of it was a shriek.

"ENMA!" It was Adelheid, and she immediately ran towards the young teen.

Enma, it was hard to believe that less than half an hour ago, he had seen his brother leaving the house in perfect condition. But now... he was covered head to toe in _blood_. His clothes were tattered, revealing the numerous wounds underneath it. He was hanging on a tree, chains attached to his arms in a crucifixion-esque style.

"O-oi..." Cozart whipped his head around to face the other Simoun members. "Call an ambulance right now!"

"R-right..." Koyo said, still in shock just like the rest of them were.

"Nii-chan, do you know this kid?" a bystander asked, from the looks of it, he was a high school student. "You probably shouldn't bother calling the hospital, they aren't gonna help you once they take one look at him..."

"What?! What are you talking about?!" Cozart snapped at him. Now that the shock was starting to subside, it soon gave way to anger. He was furious at whoever dared to do such a thing to his precious little brother. However did this will pay, dearly.

"You must be new here, young man." an elderly woman spoke up. "Those chains that are holding that boy is a trademark of the Ninth Council member. It's what he uses so people can identify the ones that were persecuted in his territory from the ones that were attacked by random thugs."

Cozart froze at the mention of the group he has become so familiar with. Ninth... Enma had said that was the codename of Team Reborn's sniper.

"I didn't know what he did but he must've done something real bad... Look at the cuts in his body more closely."

Cozart didn't know why he listened to the elderly woman instead of snapping at her, but he found himself staring at the vulnerable form of his little brother. The cuts, each and every one of them, formed an "X".

"The one who ordered the persecution was the Tenth Council Member. Just when people were starting to think that he didn't exist... The boy must've done something real bad if he managed to piss off the strongest one of them."

"The Tenth..."

That was Giotto's brother, wasn't it?

Cozart found himself trembling in anger, how dare he do this to Enma?! Just looking at his little brother... It instilled both fear and anger within him.

Before anything, he had to make sure his little brother was alright.

"The Council has everything under their thumb." the elderly woman said. "Once people take a look at him, anyone could tell who was behind it. And no one will be willing to help you out. You can't blame them either, nobody wants to incur their wrath..."

Shit! Then what were they supposed to do?! Adelheid managed to remove the chains with her metal fans and was cradling him, yelling at anyone to go get help but no one was doing anything. Cozart grit his teeth in frustration.

"Koyo, call Giotto and get Knuckle to come over as soon as possible. Rauji, get back to the house and prepare a first aid kit." he whispered harshly, that seemed to snap them out of the shock and the two ran off to complete their tasks. Cozart ran over to Adelheid, trying not to cringe at the sight of his brother's injuries. "Adelheid, we're taking him home."

"What?! No! We need to call a hospital!"

"That's not gonna work right now!" He didn't bother explaining any further. Gathering up his little brother in his arms, Cozart ran back to their house. People automatically got out of his way, which he really appreciated. Though later, when he thinks back on it, he'd realize that it was the people's way of showing that they wanted nothing to do with them and that they wanted to keep their distance.

Adelheid immediately raced after him, along with Shitt. P, Kaoru, Julie and Skull.

Arriving at their house, they tried to do whatever they could to stop the bleeding. They were even more horrified to discover bullet wounds and it took every bit of Cozart's willpower not to throw up right then and there. He's seen many injuries, being involved in the mafia and all. But to see such injuries happen to someone from his family. Enma was just a civilian, why did this happen to him?!

"He's lost a lot of blood..." Adel trailed off, even she was trembling. Cozart could understand. None of them had any medical experience other than first aid, there was no way for them to tell if Enma was really going to be alright. It was torture, to stand there knowing that Enma's heart could stop beating at any second.

It had only been a few minutes since they got Enma back, but it felt like hours before Knuckle finally arrived and took over the situation with Luce, Giotto, G. and Asari accompanying him. Koyo and Shitt. P went to assist Knuckle at Enma's room while the others decided to wait at the living room. Cozart filled them in on everything that happened and they could barely believe it.

"Tsunayoshi did this ..?" Giotto asked.

"You don't think Reborn had him do it, did he?" Asari asked.

"No... Reborn may not be the most moral one of us, but I just can't imagine that he would do such a thing..." Luce said, clenching her fists.

"Well, it's more like you can't imagine why he would, right? He's not a guy who would do something just for kicks. If he had ordered something like this to happen, then it was because he thought that Enma was a threat, which I can't imagine happening, even in a million years..." Skull commented.

"So then, why did this kid do such a thing?!" Julie demanded. "Enma was a civilian! He had nothing to do with this!"

"Did he really, though?" G. asked. "In the first place, wasn't Enma our main source of information when it comes to them?"

"... Where are you getting at?" Cozart frowned.

"We had Alaude look up information about these brats, but he barely came up with anything since there were only rumors about them. But for some reason, Enma managed to tell us a lot of things we never would've known if we stuck to good, old-fashioned research. At first we brushed it off as first-hand information he got from living here all these years but..."

"You think that there's more to it than that." Adelheid spoke through gritted teeth. "And Sawada, along with his little group, found out that Enma was giving us some inside-info and felt that it was going to become a threat, so they took him out..."

"If Shitt P hadn't went to look for him, he'd have probably bled to death." G. said grimly.

Heavy silence followed that statement, with grim looks all around.

"Well..." Adelheid clenched her fists. "It's a good thing Enma's already told us a lot of things about them then."

At that moment, Cozart could agree. He didn't care anymore. He's gotten over the shock of what happened and the fear was starting to subside since he had full faith in Knuckle and that he would be able to save Enma (although the fear still lingered inside him). So now, he was angry.

No one messed with his family.

* * *

"By the way, Hana-chan! Did you hear about what happened this morning?!" Haru asked fearfully, although you can tell that she was entirely fascinated about the topic. The two of them had gotten real close after happening to end up in the same class on their first year of high school. Haru had come from an all-girl's school and was nervous with the sudden change in environment. Hana seemed like such a reliable character that Haru instinctively approached her for assistance. Hana didn't really mind since it was getting lonely without her best friend to keep her company.

Now, they were hanging out in a cake shop and talking about whatever came to mind.

"There was an attack this morning, right? The Council has struck again." Hana said in a bored tone, taking a bite from her strawberry cake.

"I heard it was a student, around our age, from Shimon High! And get this! Apparently the one who ordered the attack was the Tenth!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Although there were only a few witnesses, there was the unmistakable mark of an "X" all over his body!" Haru explained. "Isn't this fascinating, Hana-chan?! I mean, I think I should feel sorry for the guy since he's around our age but considering the fact that this is the Council we're talking about, he probably did something real bad to deserve it. Not to mention, you usually see "VIII" or "II" or "IX" but this time it's actually the Tenth who ordered this! I wonder what the guy's done to anger someone like that."

"You'd often hear about people getting attacked in the Council's name, but Tenth is the least likely to order one followed by the First. The most common one to order an attack is Sixth, and I would've understood if he was the one behind this."

Hana frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You know, he usually targets what most criminals would deem as 'small-fry'. Domestic abusers, drug dealers and rapists. Although they're pretty terrible people, they're nothing compared to the yakuza, murderers and drug lords the Council usually focuses on. If it had been Sixth, then the guy probably gotten into something that he shouldn't have and was punished for it. But since the Tenth did it, then it's a completely different story! That man usually lets the Generals handle things, even when they were dealing with _serial killers_. It kinda makes you wonder, right?"

"Yeah..." Hana nodded in acknowledgement, although it was obvious that the topic still didn't interest her that much.

"Oh, and I heard a bunch of people took him in despite what happened."

Now _this_ caught the honor student's attention. She raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? After an attack from the _Council_?"

"Yeah! People are saying that they were new to the town though, so maybe that's why..."

Hana snorted. "Well, they better figure out soon how things work around here..."

Their little date continued on, Haru changed the topic and they started talking about school among other things. Time quickly passed and soon, it was time that they made their way back home.

"You should be careful, Hana-chan. I know we should be safe since we have the Council watching over us, but I just can't help but feel that something's going on and the incident this morning just backs that up. Stay alert on your way home, okay? You have a habit of getting lost in your thoughts."

"Geez, I'd thought you would've realized by now that I'm a responsible person." Hana said in a mock hurt voice. "It's alright, I won't let my guard down like some monkey. You be careful too, alright?"

Haru chuckled. "I will!"

They part ways. Hana took out her phone and started texting, she could walk back home blindfolded so it wasn't really an issue for her. And she just had to send thi-

Hana whipped her head around. No one was there, but she could've sworn that she felt someone's presence behind her. She started sweating before going back to her phone, texting and continued walking, although a bit faster.

She could feel it, although not behind her but somehow in the shadows. Not just one... there were several of them. She could see them in her peripheral vision, but whenever she turns her head in the slightest, they would disappear completely. So she focused on texting, trying to make it seem that everything was alright.

Just a little more...

... Huh?

Why... can't she move her legs?

She looked down only to see that the street has seemingly melted and become muddy and her legs were stuck. Her eyes widened and she glanced back at her phone.

She had to-

"Well well~ This was a lot easier than we thought it would be." a deep voice chuckled and Hana whipped her head to the direction where it came from. A man with a goatee wearing the Shimon High uniform stood in front of her, although she could've sworn that there was nobody there half a second ago.

Looking around her, she realized that she was surrounded by people who wore the Shimon High uniform. And then, there was one man who wore a suit; he had red hair and was staring at her with a blank expression.

Her mind was racing, thinking of several thing; where had they come from, what did they want, how can she escape?

"Well, that's why we targeted her Julie. Because it would be easier."

She recognized the man who spoke; Simon Cozart. She gripped her phone tighter and glared at the man, though he seemed unfazed.

"We don't want to hurt you, although that will depend on how you behave." Cozart crossed his arms.

"What do you want?!" she spat out.

"We want answers, and hopefully we can get your cooperation. I think you'll be of great help to us," Cozart's eyes narrowed. " _Sixth_."

Hana's eyes widened and he clenched her fist.

Enma... That goddamn _traitor_!

* * *

 **And here's Hana ~ ! :D I hope you liked that one!**

 **I feel so proud of myself because I basically had no plan for this series, I just planned out the backstories and the ending (which I'm not quite sure if I am going to go through with it) but now it's all starting to come to me! :D**

 **And oooh~ foreshadowing. I think I'll reveal Enma's past in the next chappie, but then again... maybe I'll focus on Hana. I dunno :3 tell me what you guys think!**

 **Sidenote: Ninth was only supposed to shoot Enma TWICE, but then I thought. Would that be enough to render someone incapable of fighting? I paused for a second and then said "Better shoot him again to be sure." XD**

 **I think the reviews are broken again, so if I wasn't able to reply to your review it's because the site isn't showing them to me .**

 **Lucky Guard:** Nope, he was supposed to be the Fifth though, instead of Mochida. But things happen and he had a change of heart, he's not all about that life after all :3 Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it ^_^ Mochida doesn't die, but he does get his ass handed to him in a silver platter XD

 **Tunafishy Clam Animefan:** ... That's actually a great idea. I'll do that XD I'm glad I made you happy with an update and thank for reviewing!

 **sousie:** I'm so happy you're happy! :D Thanks for reviewing ~ !

 **KeiraTheHeiress:** Look forward to it! ^_^ Ah, well, this is the mafia after all :P I'm glad you liked it and thank you so much for reviewing! ^_^

 **ctdiaz:** Two days later and here it is! :D I like the way you think ;) Thanks for the review!

 **I'll try to get the next chapter up this weekend! So look forward to it! ;)**

 **Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


	8. Making Decision(WTF kinda title is that)

**Why does the goddamn laptop always restart while I'm writing the author's note? -_-**

 **Anyways, 3,584 words!**

 **Also, I just realized that I forgot to put in the listings of Council members in the last chapter, sorry! Here they are:**

 **First - Shoichi (Is that even how you spell his name?)**

 **Second - Hayato**

 **Third - Takeshi**

 **Fourth - Ryohei**

 **Fifth (Official) - Lambo**

 **Fifth (Temporary) - Mochida**

 **Sixth - Hana**

 **Seventh - Unknown**

 **Eighth - Hibari**

 **Ninth - Unknown**

 **Tenth - Tsuna**

 **I'm sure you all already know who the remaining 'Unknown' are, so I'm just gonna reveal them in the next chapter. It's gonna be pretty anticlimactic -_-**

 **BTW, I love how no one is concerned about Enma. I mean he only got tortured and was left for dead, nbd XD Ya'll either love the TenthGen too much or are just as fucked up as I am, either way I'm loving it 3**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

Hana knew that struggling was pointless. They cuffed her, among tying her to a chair inside a locked room. She was also fairly certain that the walls were soundproof and she could sense the flames of two people acting as guards just outside the room.

"Tsk." things were not looking good for her, but at the very least they hadn't hurt her. Probably because they knew that Sawada was the one who ordered the persecution of Simoun Enma. It was a good thing that they didn't know that the Council had reached a unanimous decision to persecute Enma, that might've been a completely different story... Still, it didn't change the fact that she was stuck there.

Although hopefully, not for long.

* * *

"So... what do we do with her?" Julie asked. Koyo and Kaoru were guarding their little prisoner while Shitt P and Raiju were looking after Enma, Knuckle was still there to monitor his condition. And the remaining members of the Simous famiglia were discussing their next course of action.

"Adelheid?" Cozart turned to his second-in-command who was looking through Kurokawa's phone for any information.

"There's nothing here..." she mumbled with a frown. "No messages or apps, her call log, contacts and even gallery is empty too. There's nothing here, almost like she just bought the phone..."

"Now that's suspicious." Julie hummed. "We've been following her all day and she's definitely used that phone of hers, right? She was texting when we took her too."

"So she must've deleted everything before we took her in..." Cozart muttered.

"Well, there's no doubt that she noticed us but... for her to get rid of all the data in her phone so quickly..."

"I don't know about you guys, but I think this definitely confirms that she's hiding something." Cozart said.

"Well she's supposed to be a Council member, right? So I guess it's only natural. Especially since they went so far to silence Enma..." Julie commented which earned him dark looks from his companions. He shrugged it off. "Hey, if you want to find out so badly then we can always just ask little miss honor student."

"You think she's just gonna tell us what we wanna know?" Adel scoffed.

"Of course not, but I think I can convince her to be more... cooperative." Julie smirked, flashing them his Simoun ring which was glowing with his Desert flames. Well, there was a reason Desert was the counterpart of Mist flames, after all.

Cozart contemplated on this for a moment, but the reminder that his brother was on his room upstairs and the severity of his condition, he made up his mind.

"I'll leave it to you."

Julie smirked.

The conversation ended, with none of them even noticing the small little device, easily mistaken for a fly that situated itself on the center of the room to easily hear and record every word spoken and transmit it to an unknown location.

* * *

"What exactly is their objective?" Mochida asked. All remaining 9 council members were gathered in the usual meeting room. They've eavesdropped on the whole conversation using one of the many devices First created so now it was time to make a decision based on the information they've gathered.

What Team Skull wasn't aware of is that once Hana part ways with her friend Haru, she immediately went to texting the Council member she was closest with, Fourth. She told him about everything she learned from Haru, about how Enma was still most likely alive despite their plans to leave him to die and how he was in someone, most likely the Simoun's custody. They already planned on a meeting that night, so she wanted to tell him beforehand of the information that they would need to discuss later on. But then, she realized that someone was following her, so she immediately activated an app that Shouichi installed in all of their phones. With a click, it immediately erases all the data in the phone and sends a message to all fellow council members that the member who owns the phone is being attacked and requests back-up immediately, followed by the location of the attacked member before promptly "self-destructing". The app that does all that deletes itself, not that the phone explodes.

Ryohei was the first on the scene where the attack occurred, which was fitting since he was the one she was talking to just as she was ambushed. He rushed towards the scene, but was too late. Shoichi managed to track her phone, since the cute phone accessory she had just also happened to be a tracking device for when this sort of thing happened, and they found out that she was being held captive at the Simoun mansion. Once Shoichi found out about this, he sent out the his latest creation, i.e. the small device that looks like a fly until you actually look at it but why would you it's just a harmless fly or so you thought, so they can figure out what was going on.

The speed and efficiency of Shoichi in his work truly says a lot more than words ever could on why he was a member of the council.

"Well, I _might_ be jumping the gun here a _little_ bit but I _think_ that, you know, just _maybe_ he wants revenge because we sorta tried to kill Enma. You know, their boss' little brother?" Ninth said. To be honest, the sniper was very busy since managing a District was actually a LOT of work so you can say that Ninth wasn't really in the mood for someone's idiocy. It didn't help that Mochida had basically been useless in taking out Enma earlier that morning, and Ninth had to cover for him. The guy had been pretty full of himself last night too, saying that he wanted to be the one to take out the traitor.

"Your mission was to kill him." Eighth scowled. "There were _four_ of you, and yet you still _failed_?"

"Well... Oops?" Takeshi laughed awkwardly, trying to liven up the atmosphere. But they could all see the shame in his eyes and the way he clenched his fists in frustration. Even Hayato couldn't bring himself to shout insults at the DC Chairman, his head bowed down in shame.

"Well, I mean it's not that I'm siding with them but you can't really blame them either, you know." Seventh shrugged, earning a glare from Eighth. "You Generals were never the type to just get things over and done with quickly. And you're not one to talk, since you prefer to beat someone to death which, mind you, takes some time."

"But I at least make sure that they're dead by the time I walk away." he grumbled. "Useless herbivores."

"N-Now, Kyouya-san, let's try not to snap at each other, alright? We all know how productive _that_ is." Tsuna sighed. "In any case, I guess I can't blame any of you. We couldn't have imagined the Simoun family to have found Enma so quickly."

"Yeah, if they've been delayed for at least a couple minutes, he would've been a goner. Talk about the Devil's luck." Seventh commented.

"I mean, I get that we usually leave our enemies to bleed to death but you should've made an exception for this one." Shoichi sighed. "Ninth could've easily just shot an artery and he would've been dead in 5 minutes..."

"Alright, that's enough." Tsuna sighed. "This particular failure isn't something I'm going to ignore but now's not the time to be focusing on this. We'll talk about your punishments later, for now let's figure out what's going to happen with Sixth."

"Isn't it obvious?! We'll EXTREMELY rescue her!"

"How? They Simoun's guardians are, well, guarding her right now." Mochida snorted.

"We'll fight them!"

"We can't." Tsuna deadpans. "Attacking another representative outside the battle hours will immediately get us disqualified in the Representative Battle."

"But we can't just abandon her!"

"What do you suggest we do then? Send Fifth?" Hayato scowled. "He's the only General who's not a representative."

"For a good reason too." Ninth muttered.

"The only other option would be to send the Commanders." Takeshi said.

"We're already understaffed as it is. We're not going to waste perfectly capable men to a mission that has a zero chance of succeeding." First said.

"Yeah, it's not like they'd stand a chance anyway. I mean, no offense Fifth, but you're pretty weak compared to the other Generals. But at the very least you're waaay stronger than the Commanders. And I don't think you can stand a chance against the Simoun famiglia." Seventh said.

"None taken." Fifth muttered, still frustrated about his utterly humiliating defeat against Enma but managed not to show it.

"Then what? We're just gonna leave her?!" Fourth demanded, slamming his palms on the table.

"The Representative Battle takes utmost priority, you know that." Tsuna said in a voice that tried to calm the older teen while still maintaining an authoritative tone.

"There's nothing we can do, turf-top. She's just gonna have to deal with whatever they throw at her until we settle things here." Second snorted.

"How can you say that?! Don't you realize the position she's in?! Who knows what they'll do to her!"

"If it makes you feel any better, the Simoun isn't like most famiglias so they won't kill her. Can't say anything about her well-being though." Shoichi said, muttering the last part.

"Hmph. It's the herbivore's fault for being a nuisance." Eighth snorted.

"You bastard- !" Fourth snapped and grabbed Hibari by the collar, the DC chairman reacted quickly. Taking out his tonfas, he blocked the punch that the boxer sent and aimed another tonfa at his midriff, effectively knocking him back. Ryohei immediately regained his composure shortly after and prepared to attack the man once again until he was blocked by a sword.

"Now now, let's calm down, senpai." Takeshi said with that disturbingly calm grin of his. Meanwhile, Hayato stood in Hibari's way with his dynamites out, preparing to attack Hibari if he tries to continue the fight.

"Tsk, out of my way, herbivore."

"Calm down, you two!" Tsuna raised his voice. "Nii-san, I know you're upset but I need you to understand that we can't afford to act recklessly right now. Sixth is strong, you know that more than anybody. She'll be fine."

"But- !"

"You need to remember that she's a Council Member too." that statement silenced Ryohei and also calmed him down, although it didn't really make him feel any better about this.

"Well, let's just hope she is that strong." Shoichi muttered.

" _First_." Tsuna spoke through gritted teeth. The situation was already settled, he didn't need someone restarting the fire.

"I'm just saying, Tenth... What if their Desert flame user _does_ manage to... convince her to cooperate with them?" First asked, an unsettling silence engulfs the room so he decided to continue. "Should this happen, she'd be no better than Enma. What would we do then?"

"The same thing that we did with Enma." Tsuna shrugged. "We vote, although I think we already know what's going to happen to her. It's _our_ law, after all."

Nobody spoke as the implications of the statement caught up.

'Betrayal is punishable by death.'

"Tenth! You can't be serious!" Ryohei snapped.

"Don't raise your voice on the Tenth, bastard!" Hayato growled.

"Well, it's only to be expected, right?" Takeshi interrupted, hoping to avoid any further violent reactions. "I mean, Enma was a close friend of ours, but we all agreed that after what he did, he had to be taken out. You agreed to it without second thought too, senpai."

"This is different! They could easily torture her if they want to find out about anything! Enma had willingly gave us away."

"A traitor is a traitor, no matter the circumstance." Hibari stated.

Ryohei looked like he was ready to attack him again but was once more blocked by Takeshi's sword.

"You trust Sixth, don't you, Fourth?" Tsuna asked.

"O-Of course I do!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Sixth is strong, she wouldn't give in to them."

First sighed. "So this is basically a test?"

"Hm?" Tsuna frowned and all eyes turned to Shoichi. "What are you talking about?"

"Stop messing around, we all know that Sixth planned on retiring from the Council, you've even already picked out her possible replacement." Shoichi snorted. "But then, the whole thing with Enma happens and we suddenly realize that you can't really trust anyone anymore."

"So this is a test to see whether or not Sixth is loyal or not." Seventh snorted. "Well, I guess I can understand. If she manages to keep her mouth shut then I guess we can trust her. But if not... then, the four screw ups are just gonna have to make sure that they don't make the same mistake twice."

Silence.

Ryohei looked back at Tsuna with a look that begged the boy to tell him that this wasn't the case. That they weren't just gonna leave one of their friends in the hands of the enemy as a _test_. And then possibly murder said friend in the future.

This was the problem with Ryohei, he tended to let his emotions get in the way of his judgment. Usually, that wouldn't be so bad but sometimes you just had to use your head even if it breaks your heart.

"Don't misunderstand, I do care for Sixth just as much as you do, Fourth." Tsuna sighed. "If we could save her, we would. But as of now, we don't have any options. That's all there is to it."

Seventh hummed. "Well, if you say so."

Ryohei gives Tsuna a look before grudgingly going back to his seat. The rest of the Generals follow suite.

"Well then, now that that's taken care of..." Seventh said. "What about Enma?"

"What do we know other than the fact that he's not dead?" Ninth asked.

"He's being guarded by Simoun guardians, and the Vongola Sun Guardian is currently in charge of his treatment." First explained, Ryohei tensed at the mention of his brother.

"Well, we can't attack them." Mochida mutters.

"This might end up being a big problem for us." First commented. "Enma is practically a Council Member, he can easily take us down with what he knows. I don't even know why he still hasn't done that."

"Especially considering his objective." Ninth muttered.

"... So? What now?" Seventh asked.

"Can't Ninth just shoot him down?" Hayato asked.

"Considering the location of his room inside the mansion, no. I don't think even Ninth would be able to pull it off." First sighed. "They've increased the security in the mansion too. I've also gotten a report saying that Skull has contacted the Carcassa famiglia and they have an airship on its way to Namimori. I have reason to believe that its purpose is to safely transport Enma to Italy."

"Well, that's not good." Takeshi said. "We have no idea how long the Representative Battle is going to take, so we can't leave Namimori until then. But who knows what he'll do while we're busy here, fighting?"

"What about master?" Ryohei asked. "Can't he do something about this?"

"He's not an official member of this Council, so no. He has nothing to do with this, so it's just our problem. He expects us to solve it on our own." Tsuna sighs.

"That's disappointing. It would've been a lot easier if he could just lend us a hand, I'm sure he could've figured something out in an instant." Takeshi commented.

"We can't always be relying on sensei." Ninth said. "We need to learn to solve our own problems."

"What's Enma's current state?" Tsuna asked.

"He has yet to regain consciousness."

"He's not in a coma though, I can be sure about that." Ninth said. "He just lost a lot of blood, he should wake up soon."

"So we have to do something." Hayato said. " _Soon_."

"We don't really have any options, just like in Hana's case..." Tsuna sighed.

"So what? We're just going to let him go?" Ryohei asked.

"No. Enma is _not_ leaving Namimori." Tsuna stated.

* * *

The meeting came to a conclusion and Tsuna immediately made his way home. All the Generals went to manage their respective Districts while The other two Pillars were doing a little favor for Tsuna. Meanwhile, the brunet was completely free. Usually he'd be busy doing a lot of things, what with juggling being a high school student and managing the Council. But with the Representative Battles going on, that's pretty much all he's been focusing on.

"You're getting good."

He turned around and saw Reborn, lurking in the shadows and being his typical old self. He's known the man for years, and yet the hitman can always still manage to creep up to him. Tsuna should've sensed the man and it really frustrated him when he didn't. But then again, this was the World's Greatest Hitman they were talking about.

"At what?" Tsuna asked. Compliments from Reborn are rare, so he cherished them a lot. So it was nice to know whatever he did right so he can do that more often.

"Handling situations. I remember when you used to panic a lot."

"I was _seven_." Tsuna said in exasperation, Reborn only chuckled.

"I bet if I never showed up in your life, you'd still be a pathetic wimp. Gotta say, I taught you well." Reborn gave him a strange look that made Tsuna frown a bit. "Maybe a little too well..."

"Huh?"

"I have somewhere I need to be, go home. I might not be back until tomorrow morning."

"Eh? Where are you going?"

"Just gonna check something out, nothing a brat like you should worry about."

Tsuna pouted at this. "I'm not a kid anymore, Reborn!"

"You sound like Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Funny enough, she was sixteen too when she said that."

Tsuna only grumbled and Rebornn ruffled his hair.

"Go home, Dame-Tsuna. You have a long day tomorrow."

"... I don't know where you're going, but promise me you'll be careful, Reborn."

Reborn sighed but you could see a ghost of a smile lingering on his lips. "I promise."

* * *

Reborn made his way to the clearing where the Arcobaleno gathers during battle hours. As expected, it was completely dark and no one was there.

Except for the person who called him out.

"You know I don't like it when people waste my time, so this better be good." Reborn said.

Luce only nodded, her expression was unreadable even for the World's Greatest Hitman.

People tend to dismiss Luce as weak, since she's a women and she usually has all her men who are loyal to a fault do everything for her. But they forget that she's a mafia boss, raised in the world stained with blood and sin. No matter how kind she appears, she was also ruthless when the need arose. And more importantly, she was the Sky Arcobaleno, one of the Seven Strongest in her generation.

Even Reborn didn't know who was stronger, though that was mostly due to the fact that he's never seen Luce go all out before. Nobody's ever given her a reason to, after all. She was too kind and forgiving, anyway.

But, considering the circumstances, Reborn wouldn't be surprised if he already made Luce snap.

"I just wanted to talk." she stated calmly. "I feel like out of all the arcobaleno, I'm the one whose closest to you. But even I didn't expect you to pull off something like this."

"Doesn't that just mean that you don't know me as well as you thought you did?" Reborn raised an eyebrow. "It's dangerous to make baseless assumptions in the mafia, you should know that."

"I do. And I also know that we're missing something here." she said. "You've pissed off a lot of people, Reborn. Everyone thinks that you're using these kids and turned them into puppets that do your bidding."

"You do too, right?"

"I won't deny that." she sighed. "But I think that there's more to it than that. You're not the type to get attached after all."

"What makes you think I'm attached?" he scoffed.

"I know you Reborn, more than you think."

The hitman's eyes narrowed. "So? What do you want?"

"I want to know how you and Tsunayoshi-kun met." she stated. "Please tell me how he became your student."

* * *

 **Hope you liked it!**

 **I told my brother about this story and he thought I was weird and messed up. XD If only he knew...**

 **There were a total of 5 scenes in this chapter, I think that counts as eventful XD I hope you agree! Next chapter: My poor attempt in writing action! Look forward to it! XD**

 **And hey, the reviews are fixed :D What's with that bug, anyway?**

 **Reviews:**

 **Crucifix HiME -** Aw, it's nice of you to take that effort, although you really didn't need to XD Yeah, tbh I originally didn't plan on the representative battle. I just needed a reason for the Vongola to come back to Japan and let them see what their little 'angels' are up to XP My plan for this fic is like, 80% backstory too XD But I'll try to fix that, yeah. Let's focus on the now instead of looking back at the past! (I say that and leave a cliffhanger like that, GOD)

Also, about your question on why 1827, it's because I ship them ^_^ SO HARD. As to why I ship them, well... I can write a multi-chapter fic about that. I won't go into the details, they're just so CUTE! XD Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing! :)

 **Demon D. Dino -** Thanks, I'm making it up as I go tbh XD Me too, they're really cute! :D But I don't see many fics like that :/ Yeah, I'm pretty biased, aren't I? . Well, can't be helped! Thanks for reviewing, and I really appreciate it! :D

 **Breath after Death -** There are so many ways to explain it, but you chose 'Rude' and I wanna make it into a meme. *Betrays friend, causes their downfall and gets another friend kidnapped and tortured* _Rude_. P.S. I'm not making fun of you, please don't hate me . Yeah, I think I will. Save the past for later I mean, because I ended up not focusing on Hana here. The meeting took up a lot of this chapter :/ Thank you! And I love seeing your reviews not only because you're sweet, but also because I get to see your username and display pic! XD I really appreciate the support!

 **Anon -** Look forward to it ;) Thanks for the review!

 **NagiRokudo -** The intensity will only increase, my friend ^_^ Let's all hope for Hana's wellbeing as well :P Thank you for reviewing!

 **ctdiaz -** Yeah, you won't XD Thanks for the review!

 **Lucky Guard -** I'm glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one as well! :D Hana, poor Hana T^T

 **KeiraTheHeiress -** Yay! I'm glad you liked it! Thank for reviewing! :D

 **Guest (Chapter 6) -** Is it?! :D I'm glad you liked it! Look forward to the next chapter~!

 **Martinie Simon (Chapter 6) -** Novena? Do you mean Ninth? It's a wild guess XD Thanks for the review! :D

 **Well, that's it. Thank you for the continuous support! :D**

 **And as always, Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


	9. Fragile

**4,016 words**

 **I am SO sorry this took so long but I've been SO stressed lately because I'm failing college T^T I want to improve my grades and work harder (Even though I'm pretty fucking sure I was already working REAL hard already) so I might not be able to post anytime soon... But I'll still try! :D**

 **The only reason I'm posting today is because I need to relieve some stress so I thought that writing the new chappie would be a good idea :D I'm much better now, but tomorrow's monday so I'm probably gonna go back to being stressed... Aw well, that's life... T^T**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chappie~ ^_^**

* * *

"... Why should I tell you?"

"You're his teacher too, right? I'm the same with Giotto-kun. I've raised him like I would one of my own and I really care about him... Would it be ridiculous of me to assume that you feel the same way to Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"It's ridiculous for you to assume that you know me." Reborn scoffed. "You may be the Sky Arcobaleno, Luce but you're not my sky. You do not have my loyalty and frankly I could care less about what you do with your life. It's kind of why I'm trying really hard to win this battle even though I know you'll die if I do."

"That's right..." Luce smiled sadly. "Unfortunately I was never able to bond with any of you, but with this whole affair going on I suppose that's a good thing."

"Although it would've been good for you, right? That was a chance wasted." Reborn crossed his arms. "If you'd have bonded with all the Arcobaleno and became our Sky then you would've automatically been declared the winner here, because the rest of us would've surrendered."

Luce frowned. "It's true that I wanted to bond with all of you at one point but it was never because I wanted to take advantage of all of you, Reborn. I know we don't know each other that well, but I thought you had a better opinion of me."

"It's not an opinion, it's a fact. Even if it wasn't your attention, you still would've done it, right?" he asked. "You have to survive for your family after all..."

"... Yes, I do."

Everyone in the mafia knew about flames, what types there were and their properties. Skies were particularly special, as everyone knows, because of their ability to harmonize with other flames. They were known to be leaders, powerful and at the same time accepting. They give out a certain warmth that makes you feel secure and just... happy. This was especially true with the Sky's guardians whom they have bonded with. A flame user automatically becomes a guardian when a Sky's flames synchronizes with theirs which can only happen when the two trust each other deeply. And once that happens, they'll develop a strange connection. It won't be noticeable at first, but guardians would be able to sense their Sky whenever their nearby almost immediately, depending on how strong the bond is they could probably also locate him even if he's far. The same applies vice versa. The guardians would also be able to feel their Sky's warmth more strongly than others.

But other than that, the most important thing to know about Skies is that they are supposed to be protected. Whenever a Sky dies, the warmth disappears and everyone nearby, even their supposed killers would feel the loss and inwardly mourn their death. Whether you knew the Sky or not, their flames just have that much of an impact on people. And it's worse on their guardians.

They could be at the other side of the world but they would still feel it. The sudden bout of pain, grief and loss. They might be confused at first but they'll know that they lost their Sky. It was an instinct, almost as if they could feel the strong connection they had with their Sky be forcibly destroyed and they'll be left scarred, empty and hurt. And they're cursed to live the rest of their lives with this empty feeling that will never go away and the pain from their loss that will make them wish for death just so they could stop mourning.

Some say these are rumors, but it all depends on how strong the bond is between the Sky and their guardians. If it's weak, then the emptiness would be there, never leaving but you'll be able to learn to cope with it. If it's strong, however, then life would be hell.

So it's a natural instinct for guardians to die for their Sky with no hesitation.

"Reborn... Look, I know you don't care about me. You probably would've killed me by now too if it weren't for the rules Checkerface has placed, since it would mean that you'd have a higher chance of surviving. You're a hitman, after all. Everything you do, you do to survive. And I don't blame you, that's the mafia way." Luce sighed. "You've always been a lone wolf, and you'd do whatever you can to get what you want. That's why nobody here is surprised that you'd go as far as to use kids and have them fight, even though it would expose them to danger or even death."

"Well, I guess I don't have the best reputation but it's not like they're wrong. I get what I want." he smirked.

"But it's more than that." Luce frowned. "You trust Tsunayoshi-kun don't you, Reborn?"

The smirk disappeared and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"You always strive for the best... And now since your life is on the line, you'd only pick someone who you'd know would win with absolute certainty to represent you." Luce said. "Tsunayoshi-kun has great potential, we all saw that during the first day. But for you to go as far as choosing him, and even give him a boss watch, you must really trust him, right? You care about him too. I know that Dino had also been your student in the past, but I can tell the difference on how you treat both of them. Wouldn't have thought you'd be the type to have favorites though."

Luce chuckled and Reborn scowled. "I always hated how you always think you're right. I'm not the type who cares about a bunch of idiots who got themselves involved in the mafia."

"You're not denying it though." she smiled at him. "Tsunayoshi-kun must be really special, huh?"

"Yeah, too bad nobody noticed that before I did, huh?" Reborn snorted. "My relationship with my student is none of your business, Luce. I suggest you focus on the battle. Your daughters would be heartbroken if they lost their mother."

Luce's smile disappeared quickly, she clenched her fists and spat out. "Leave my daughters out of this. You may be doing this for your own survival but I actually have something I need to fight for, Reborn."

Reborn ignored her and walked away.

* * *

Hana screamed in a mixture of pain and terror before the mirage finally disappeared and she was left gasping for air. Damn, the Desert flame was no joke. It definitely did rival the power of Mist flames, just as the rumors said. Luckily though, every Council member was trained by Reborn to have a mental wall that blocks all types of flames from accessing the memory, so they can't forcibly extract any information from her unless she willingly tells them. Which was never gonna happen.

But that didn't mean they were immune to illusions, or in this case, mirages. And _fuck_ , it was taking a toll on her. Some of the Generals would've probably been able to disperse or counter it, but being a Pillar meant that you were usually just doing the desk work. Hana only knew the basics of self-defense, sensing flames and reading an enemy's movements to be able to predict their attack. These can be very useful at times, but at the moment, not so much.

"Well, that's all the time we have for today." Julie sighed. "You're a tough one, huh?"

Despite being mentally exhausted from hours of mental torture, Hana managed to gather enough energy to look up and glare at the man, who only snorted.

"Don't give me that look, at the very least we haven't hurt you... What you did to Enma was far worst. You're lucky we're merciful." Julie crossed his arms. "Now, if you don't want to go through the same process tomorrow, you'll tell us what we wanna know."

She stayed silent, the nasty look never faltering.

"You're the only 'Pillar' we know, other than Sawada. From what Enma told us, there are four. Who are the other two?"

"They're people who can fuck you over, I can tell you that."

"Where's your headquarters."

"You can probably find it if you get your head out of your ass."

"How'd you find out that we got the information from Enma?"

"Cause we have brains, and unlike you we like to use it."

"... Who's the sniper?"

"That would be the one who shot the little traitor."

Julie frowned at this. Traitor?

"... Enma was your friend?"

The expression on Hana's face wavered for a split second, replacing it with confusion before reverting back to angry. "He didn't tell you? Funny since it looks like he was fond of talking about us."

No, they did not know about that. They just figured that Enma did something he shouldn't have to get some info and that's what made them rather unhappy. They hadn't thought that he was actually friends with them. So that was why he knew so much. Then that means...

Maybe this hadn't been a complete waste of his time after all.

"What was in your phone?"

"You took it, you should know."

"Yeah, if you hadn't deleted it."

"How would you know that I did such a thing? Any proof?" Hana asked.

She had impressive stamina, he'll give him that. The mirages had obviously taken a toll on her, but she still manages to stay rational and even come up with witty comebacks. She's pretty tough for someone who supposedly only does the desk work.

"You're not cute at all." Julie sighed. "But whatever, you'll snap soon enough. You were barely able to handle today."

No matter how tough Hana acted, she couldn't deny that she was close to passing out. Her entire form was trembling violently, and there were tears at the corner of her eyes which she couldn't really wipe away but willed not to fall. She felt like puking too, but that would be a sign of weakness which she couldn't afford.

"Well then, see ya later!" he waved, throwing her an annoying grin before exiting the room. Once he was gone, she let out a sigh, trying to calm her nerves. Her mind wandered back to the mirages that she had to go through and she felt herself panting- no wait, she was hyperventilating. Fuck.

She couldn't get rid of all those horrid images from her mind, and not only that, it also brought back a few rather unpleasant memories. Hana willed herself to just breathe but _why can't she even do such a simple thing_? Why won't she stop shaking and why did she feel so nauseous? Damn, even though she hated that weird looking guy she actually preferred it when he was there. At the very least she had something to focus on, his questions allowed her to think of something that didn't involve the nightmares in her brain with all the death, pain and _blood_. But now that she was all alone, her mind was left to wander and that was never a good thing.

A distraction... she had to find something to distract her thoughts. Something to focus on and just think about that didn't involve any terrible memories. Looking around frantically, she could barely see anything. The sun had set a long time ago and there was only the faint moonlight to illuminate the room. It was dark. The dark was scary, mysterious, you think you're safe but something's out there it's going to hurt you, you're so alone but at the same time you're not because there's someone _there_.

Focus, Hana!

Breathing was getting harder by the minute. She felt that she was losing consciousness and that would've been great since it would be a great escape but deep down inside, she didn't _want_ to go to sleep. Sleep meant dreams, and she never had any good dreams, there were only nightmares.

She scanned the room once again, trying to think of anything. Trying to calm down, think of happy thoughts but she just couldn't at the moment because there was only _pain_ and _memories_ and-

A flower.

Her gaze rested on the flower that sat on a vase not too far from the door. It was dark, so she couldn't really identify what kind it was. She only saw the silhouette of a single flower.

 _"What kind of parents would name their daughter 'nose'?"_

 _"'Hana' doesn't mean 'nose' you idiot! It means 'flower'!"_

Ah, she finally remembers. Whenever she couldn't take it anymore, when life was just _too much_ , he was always there to brighten up her day. He made her happy, even if it's just for a while.

 _"Flower, huh..." he smiled. "It suits you!"_

What the hell was that supposed to mean? She couldn't help but chuckle humorlessly despite the situation. Honestly, he was a such a monkey...

Ryohei. That's right, just think about Ryohei. Hana closed her eyes, and instead of seeing dark monsters chasing her, she saw the idiot she fell in love with.

"Tsk, hurry up and save me already, you monkey..." she muttered.

* * *

She didn't even realized she had dozed off. But her eyes had snapped open once she heard the door unlocking. It was a good thing that she was a light sleeper. But then again, it was a bit necessary if you're working with a vigilante group. You can't let your guard down, even in your sleep.

Hana was still a bit tired, falling asleep on a chair was not the most comfortable thing and she was sore all over. But that wasn't important at the moment. She mustered up the energy to glare at the person who was about to enter the room.

She felt her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

They didn't look that alike, but there was no doubt about it. It was the monkey's brother.

Were they in on this? They knew that the Simoun and Vongola were allies, but considering that there was the representative battle going on they thought that they thought that the two families wouldn't have room to work together. Especially since Team Luce was already allied with Team Colonello.

This could prove to be problematic, did the Tenth know about this? Hana would've wanted to report this to him if she could.

"You're... Kurokawa Hana, correct?"

"Congrats on figuring that out, you wanna cookie?" she muttered.

"You're Kyoko's friend."

"Best friend." she corrected, there was no use denying what they already know is true.

"And you're also the so-called 'Sixth'?"

"I don't recall saying that I was."

"From what Julie told us, you didn't deny it either. You also have a tolerance for his Desert flames and if that's the case then there's no way you're just an ordinary civilian. But if you were also involved in the mafia, then you would've been able to put up more of a fight."

"If I was a part of the mafia, even as a vigilante, there's no way I would have been able to continue on with a normal life unless I'm up there in the food chain, that's what you're saying? And considering that I can't fight for shit, then the only possible option for me is to be a Pillar who are known to be incapable of fighting but are protected by the Generals."

"It's not that hard to figure out." Knuckle sighed.

"Still not confirming it."

"You're really stubborn, I can see why you and Kyoko got along."

"Keep her out of this." Hana spat out.

"She talked a lot about you, you know. You were a smart girl who had her whole life ahead of her. You realize that you pretty much ruined your future by becoming a vigilante?" Knuckle frowned at this. "I don't even think that's the right term anymore since you and your friends are pretty much mafiosi."

"It's not like you're any better mister Vongola Sun Guardian." she spat out.

"A normal Japanese high school girl wouldn't know about that, you know."

"Maybe it's just because I hang out with your brother and he told me, have you ever considered that?"

Knuckle frowned at this. "So it's true?"

"Hah? What the hell are you talking about now?" she asked, obviously annoyed.

"I heard that the Fourth- who apparently is my brother's alias- has a close relationship with Sixth and that he often relies on that person." the boxer explained before chuckling humorlessly. "I know it's a bit strange to say this right now, considering the circumstances but... thank you for looking after my brother."

Knuckle had such a genuine smile that she didn't even notice her expression soften. After what she went through last night, it was a nice change. But the kindness that reflected in the man's eyes only made her sick.

Homesick.

She didn't want to be here. She _shouldn't_ be here. She should be back at headquarters, keeping everyone in line and making sure that nothing was out of place. She should be with Haru, gossiping about what's going on around town, scolding Lambo for being such a troublemaking brat along with Mochida for not keeping an eye on him, yelling at Second and Third to stop fighting and get work done, hanging out with Ninth who was the most tolerable one out of the whole bunch and talking with Tenth and sensei about random things in their territory. They would praise her for doing such a good job in keeping everything in check, and then she would pretend that she didn't care about what they thought but still felt the familiar warm giddiness inside whenever they looked her way and saw the good parts instead of her failures.

She should be with Ryohei, yelling at him for being an idiot but still being there for him regardless. Because he had been there when no one else was, so the least she could do was be there for him too.

"Look, I'm sorry but I can't really do much for you right now." Knuckle sighed. "Your friends have gone too far."

Hana kept silent, but the priest noticed how she had stopped glaring at him.

"I've been here since yesterday morning, keeping track of Enma's condition. For some reason, he has yet to wake up. But from what I see, he's been through a lot in the short amount of time he spent with those little generals; three bullet wounds, multiple lacerations, second degree burns, dislocated shoulder and his legs have been broken too... almost as if they were making sure that he wouldn't be able to run away."

Hana snorted, bowing her head and resorted to staring at the floor. So those four idiots went easy on the fucker, huh? Typical. The Generals, excluding Eighth, had always been really close to Enma. So it was quite understandable that they couldn't fuck him up like they would with any other scum they've come across.

But for them to fail to kill him? Hana scowled. She was going to give them an earful once she got out of this hellhole.

That aside, they should consider themselves lucky that the guy got away with just that.

"He's been tortured, severely."

They didn't know what it meant to be 'severely tortured'. She had the uncharacteristic urge to laugh.

"He's in the brink of death."

The bastard should _already_ be six feet below the ground. _Why_ is he still _breathing_?! It was his fault that she got into this mess!

"That's not something we can turn a blind eye to. You'd do the same if it had been one of your own."

...

"We don't want to hurt you... Any of you. But what you're doing, what you did was wrong. You need to realize that. They need to realize that. We need to talk to them, before this gets any worse than it is." he explained. "If that happens... we'll be the least of your problems. Even the mafia has rules that we must abide, you know."

They knew. That's what people didn't understand; they knew.

"We want to help. All I ask is that you _let us_ help."

They didn't need help, not anymore.

"Please, Hana."

She looked into those eyes and froze at what she saw.

Those dark eyes, which was probably the only similarity between the two brothers, stared at her pleadingly. They were warm, kind, and so _familiar_.

The mental torture was really taking a toll on her, she wanted to cry right then and there.

What was taking them so long? Why haven't they saved her yet? She just wanted to go home. This place was dark and scary, it made her feel so vulnerable and she hated it. She just wanted to feel safe again.

And now this man comes along and she can tell, even if she hasn't known him for so long, that he cares. He really wants to help her and her friends. Sure he may not have been a very good brother, but he was good man.

Not like them.

Those eyes- and their effects were most likely amplified by her exhaustion and fear- almost made her cave in. She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to feel safe. Dammit, why was she so weak? One night and she was already on the verge of surrendering. But she couldn't help it, she had never been a fighter. So was it a wonder that she was losing this battle.

It would be so fucking easy to just tell him everything right now, he could help. Hana knew very well what the Tenth was planning, and she knew that it was a dumbass idea. But she didn't go against it because she trusted their leader.

... Maybe calling for help really was the best choice? The others were too proud to do it after all... Someone had to do something.

And it would really be for the best.

Hana opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words.

Knuckle only waited patiently for her reply, continuing to stare at her with those kind eyes.

"... Go fuck yourself." she spat out.

Knuckle sighed. "I supposed I should've expected that answer. You seem like the loyal type after all."

He chuckled but she only continued to glare at him.

"You're a good girl..." Knuckle smiled at her. "Back then, Kyoko wanted to come to Namimori. But you stopped her because you knew things were going to get dangerous, right?"

"... She's my best friends. And she has nothing to do with this." Hana hated how she sounded so weak.

"Yeah, she doesn't..." Knuckle said. "I know I said this already, Hana but... thank you."

What was this guy so thankful for? It was only natural that she looked out for Kyoko, and Ryohei too. They were precious to her.

The whole Council was precious to her too, they were her family.

And she would never betray them.

She'd rather die.

* * *

 **So here's the thing, I finished over half of this chapter a few weeks ago but only continued it today. So I apologize if the flow is fucked up, but hey what the hell? XD Anyway, I was supposed to write about the third part of the representative battle but... I had fun writing about Hana :3 That li'l scene with Reborn was nice too. Although I can't really say that I'm proud of how this turned out... Well, maybe it's because I didn't proofread. I'm too lazy for that shit.**

 **Do you guys think I should get a BetaReader?**

 **Also, sorry if there seems to be more curses than usual (I'm not even sure if I put that much in there at all... I think I did. So yeah, I'm apologizing just in case. My brains fried right now. College, amiright?)**

 **I don't really have time to reply to the review right now, so I'll try to do it next time. Hopefully I'll be more free :3**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! And if it's not too much trouble, please pray for me! T^T Pray to every God you know because I'm gonna need all the help I can get. And if you're atheist or agnostic, then just review and give me words of encouragement. That'll help a lot because it would seem like I lost my motivation and I can't seem to find it. If you guys can help me out that'd be swell :)**

 **Anyway, Please review ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**

 **~ RnR ~ !**


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